Liesmith
by JoAmazing
Summary: After the battle of the Chitauri, Thor and Loki return to Asgard, where the Allfather issues a punishment Loki feels he cannot stand: The inability to lie. But when the caster of said spell uses it to gain some information, Thor takes matters into his own hands and brings the cursed mischief god to stay in Stark Tower. No slash.
1. Caught Up

_Disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me. Most of this story was written by me, but I did have some help with my fantastical sister PlushChrome. If you like my stories, you should check out her's._

* * *

Loki didn't know when it had started. All the lies.

At first, it was just a few. Short and crisp, surprisingly easy to get away with and slightly pleasing, how he had managed to pull it off.

He started getting better at it. They came with less hesitation, less guilt afterword. And no one guessed that he was untruthful. Not innocent Loki, who trailed behind Thor and hardly spoke unless he was first engaged.

It became a game. See how far he could push it. See what all he could twist and squirm out of without his tongue slipping.

And he found it was more then just words. Soon, he learned to manipulate his face and his body to his purpose.

It became more than out and out lying when he needed to, because there were so many forms of lies. He found that manipulation, even if you were telling the truth, was pretty much the same as lying, and deviation in it's smoothest form.  
He found that he simply had to wave his hand, frown ever so slightly, urge in the right direction, and people would bend to his will.

Some part of him was guilty through his manipulation, as he lied through his teeth and made his silence speak for him and twisted others minds and emotions until they saw his way.

But Odin sent him on diplomatic missions and offered (perhaps accidently) him opportunities in which to use his gifts, so he figured that his father wanted him to share his talents. Use them for the benefit of Asgard.

And as he slipped more and more into a kind of secret despair, he had the _need_ to lie.  
As the thoughts and feelings that he kept trying to force down became even more wild and desperate, and lonely, he had all the more reason to twist his words.

Questions, well meaning questions, terrified Loki even more than when he was overlooked or ignored. Because there was a possibility that someone might discover him.

Discover his fears and shame, that he was so jealous of Thor. That he wanted so badly to just be accepted.

And so he lied. He deviated and manipulated.

When Thor asked him if he had been sleeping lately (_you look so tired, brother. Are you sure you've been sleeping? Have you had nightmares?_) he simply assured his brother that he tired of sparring easily and (subtly, with the just the barest trace of a challenge that he knew Thor couldn't resist) he wondered when they would get an adventure.

When he couldn't eat (why eat when it all tasted like sawdust?) and people asked him about it, he would tell them he had a low tolerance for watching Thor stuff his mouth. And they would be distracted from him.

And Loki might feel a brief pang that they never sought out his lies and uncovered them, but this was for the best.

He knew that eventually, everyone would catch on.

They would, of course, never truly know _how much_ he lied, but they soon learned that he did lie and did so easily. So it was not a surprise to him when people started up with the names.

Liesmith and Silvertongue and Trickster, Serpent was also rather common.

Thor took it rather as a jest, but still expressed his disapproval at the way that Loki grinned sometimes when they mentioned it (_it is amusing, Loki, but do you have to jab still further at their wounds?_).

Frigga, for her part, knew that Loki was no longer the child she could put up on her knee and scold before making it up with an embrace, and acted accordingly. She visited him 'in conference' and tried to make him see sense, but let no command pass through her lips and told him she trusted he could find his own way.

Odin was more direct. He told Loki that words were not the weapons of a warrior, and were useful sometimes, but other times hurtful. He did not want his family to be weaved through lies.

Sif and the Warriors Three were less kind. They continually teased him about it, and Sif turned her head away when he talked no matter what he said.

It was not the way, they said, of a warrior. They pressed Thor to make Loki stop, and when Thor expressed his believe that he considered it merely a jest and a skill on his brothers part besides, they murmured to themselves that Loki's twisted words had poisoned Thor's mind.

Not that Loki cared, really, but he thought it best that he curbed it. Before he became an embarrassment (the lying prince) or before people stopped trusting _everything_ he said.

But somewhere along the way, he lost control.

He was caught up in his lies and he couldn't get out. They flowed from his lips easily, naturally, without his really meaning them to.

Every word seemed to be perfectly thought out, every movement orchestrated and every smile had a dual meaning, but he never thought about it. Had stopped _wanting_ it.

But he found he couldn't stop them.

And it hurt, but he just didn't know how to stop. It was his way, to lie and scheme even when he _wasn't_ lying or scheming. And no one seemed to understand that.

So he kept lying. He laughed about it and threw it around and pretended that he was proud of the skill and that was why he kept doing it. But still inside, he hated it. Hated that his mind rushed ahead and started planning things before he could stop. Hated the feeling of shame and guilt that was brought up whenever the words slipped through his mouth.

Hated the helplessness of it, and the sick hope that he felt whenever he thought someone would call him out, force him to tell the truth.

And they became poison to him.

_Loki, are you alright? You seem so quiet lately._ Thor would say.

_I am always quiet, Thor,_ he would reply. _A true warrior knows when to keep silent._

And still, the lies flowed from him. Even now.

Even when he was hanging from the Bifrost (_I could have done it, father_) and when he spoke sharply at Thor, telling him that Odin was dead.

The Chitauri... Oh how he had lied through his teeth. Oh how he had spoke over the sound of their voices as they tortured him. Trying to convince them that he would be of use.

And even after they had put him under their control, he had been in control of his words. He could've told Thor about it, asked him to help.

But instead he let his pride get in the way. Wouldn't admit that he was wrong (_I __am__ a king_).

And now, now it was harder then ever. After his head had gotten set right (_Oh, he could sleep and eat now. His thoughts were his own again_), he had been muzzled, which was understandable.

But back in Asgard, it had been removed.

And they had asked a fatal question.

_What do you have to say for yourself?_

The cheeky smile flashed before he could stop it, and he tried to bite his tongue but the words came.

Poison words. Lies.

_Surely you jest. You would let me speak? As if I had a place here?_

Deviate.

_Laufeyson the Frost Giant. Shouldn't I be sent to Jotunheim for my trial?_

_There are no trials in Jotunheim, brother._ Thor chimed in.

Oh how easy they all were, playing into his hands. Saying just what he wanted them to say.

_Oh, I know. I'm not above suicide. And as I've before attempted it, I thought you would understand. Even one with such little wits about them as you should see the sense in simply allowing my death?_

Manipulate. Deviate. Don't let them break you. Don't tell them what you have to say for yourself.

And it had gone so much better from there. How quickly the decision to put him in a prison was. How little protest there was.

How little input from him was needed (_and when there was input needed, he lied and squirmed his way out of it_).

And the only one who seemed to notice that something was wrong was Thor.

Thor, who had always been the exception. Thor, who had always teetered on the edge of a discovery, was now staring at him with his puppy dog eyes. Big, innocent eyes that always seemed sad now when they looked at him.

He looked at him as if seeing him for the first time, and was horrified by what he saw.

Loki tuned out Odin in favor of staring back at Thor thoughtfully.

He was so deep in thought that he raised a hand and began tugging absently at a stray lock of his raven hair, a habit he had been trying to break for as long as he could remember. Whenever he was particularly absorbed in his thoughts, he would find his hands acting of their own accord.

Surprisingly, Thor watched the movement and then grinned largely, a wetness appearing in his eyes.

Loki froze. He wanted to run to Thor like he did when they were children and Thor was wounded. He wanted to rush to his brother and wipe away his tears, slipping his slender hand into Thor's warm one and smiling comfortingly at him.

But he turned away, back to Odin and the other officials who made up his trial.

"And in that light," Odin was saying. "Loki... Odinson, your punishment has been decided."  
That was interesting. Loki had completely missed it. He chanced a half-glance at Thor, who looked just as shocked and bewildered as he felt.

"Pray tell, Allfather," Loki said sarcastically. "I am most enthralled to hear how you will give a punishment worthy of _my kind_ without spilling the secret transgression to all of Asgard."

"We will summon a sorceress," Odin said loudly. "And she will take away your ability to lie."  
"Come again?" Loki asked, sure he had heard wrong. To his right, Thor gave a low whistle.

"You will be unable to utter any false words," Odin explained with a frown. "Or fail to truthfully answer a question that is asked of you."  
Loki stared at Odin, waiting for his senses to assure him that Odin did not mean his words. When the feeling didn't come, he laughed once.

"But you can't," He said, as if it simply was not possible for the thought to be considered.

"And why not?" Odin asked.

"Because you just can't," Loki told him simply. "It is a funny notion, Allfather, but now is not the time for a jest."  
"I can, and will," Odin stood and tapped Gungir against the hard floor. "You have brought this upon yourself, Loki. You will not utter another poison word."  
"You can't take this from me," Loki tried to get the Allfather to see, casting a glance at Thor, who looked at him strangely. "You simply can not. I don't think you understand, this is all I have left!"

For a second, Loki could have cut the charged silence with his favorite knife, and then Thor said "What do you mean by that, brother?"  
"Don't call me that," Loki said coldly, flipping his head around to stare at Thor and hardly noticing his hair falling in his face in an unsightly way. "I am _not_ your..." He struggled for a hold on his emotions for a second before turning back to Odin. "You cannot have that."

"I can," The Allfather corrected. "It is my choice to make, as your king... and your father."

"Oh, don't you start that," Loki said dangerously. "You have never been my father. And..." Here he smirked. "You no longer have the claim of being my king. I tell you again, Odin, you. Will. Not. Take. This. From. Me."

"Why do you cling to your lies so closely," Odin asked in a falsely calm, falsely sympathetic voice. "Yet disregard the bonds of family so flippantly."  
"Easy," Loki said, raising his bound hands. "My lies did not use me, abandon me, disgrace me, bind me, or threaten to steal the one thing I still have."  
"Loki, you have many things," Thor exclaimed. "Why do you force this seclusion upon yourself?"

"Because I welcome it," Loki lied easily. "I enjoy every moment of it. I have never been more content, why aren't you happy for me? Don't you claim to have my best interests at heart?"  
"Loki," Odin said sternly. "This is why I am doing this. Your lies are uncontrollable, and they are wounding, not only everyone you have ever loved, but yourself as well. Do you even know what you're saying?"  
"Do not dare assume that you know me," Loki snapped, trying not to freeze with the sudden fear that gripped his heart at Odin's spot on statement. "I am no longer a child and a far, _far _cry from your meek and obedient son. You have not known me for a very long time now, _Allfather_."  
"Brother," Thor said, shocked.

"And you," Loki whirled around to face him. "You spew lies as easily as I do, but you're gullible enough to actually believe your own falsehoods! _Stop_ calling me your brother! Isn't it obvious that I despise you in every way?!"  
"Ahem," Odin stood calmly. "Whenever you're ready, Sorceress."  
Loki froze. The Sorceress wasn't even in the room, but waiting on call. He could do nothing. Nothing but talk for as long as he _could_.

"Anything else," He said, turning to Odin with a newfound desperation. "Throw me in prison! Starve me to death! Make Thor kill me slowly!"  
Thor looked sickened and gave Loki a horrified, wide eyed glance. Loki paid him no mind.

Fire was starting to coarse through his veins and he assumed that the Sorceress was starting on the spell. He doubled over, but kept his eyes leveled at Odin even as his bound hands clutched at his stomach.

"For heavens sake, throw me to the Chitauri!" He shouted desperately. "You can't! You can't, I _need_ them! Please!"  
Odin and Thor were both staring at him in shock and that wretched pity.

And the fire tore into his very mind. Loki felt a scream rip unwillingly from behind his clenched teeth and his knees hit the floor.

He reached out to his magic and began fighting against the sorceress's, but it was depleted after all the overuse on Midgard, and not at it's strongest.

_If I was at my strongest,_ Loki thought to himself. _This mage would not stand a chance. And undoubtedly, she knows this well._

Thor was shouting his name, and Loki was surprised to feel his warm hands pulling on his shoulders, trying to make him stand.

As if he could.

His magic was losing the fight as well as draining him, he felt like he could never do anything ever again, whether it be standing, moving, or even thinking.

Loki had never felt so powerless. His consciousness was slipping rapidly, and the last thing he heard was Thor shouting at Odin to remove the spell before he succumbed to the blackness.

* * *

_So... Yeah.  
I'm hoping to update again soon so stay tuned cause I am ROCKIN THIS! Not trying to sound arrogant or something. I'm just kind of excited about this fic here._


	2. Take It Off

_Quick disclaimer: I do not own Marvel the Avengers or pretty much anything that you've heard before. All I own is the storyline, and even some of that I must credit to my charming sister PlushChrome, who also does the editing._

_Also, before you read this chapter, I would like to thank everyone who reviewed, favorited ,and followed. You guys are all really great._

_Hope you enjoy this next chapter! Jo~_

* * *

Thor stared at his brother's limp form in shock. He had never seen his brother look so... broken.

Loki was lying in a heap on the floor, his black hair almost covering his face and, if not for the heavy rise and fall of his chest, Thor almost would've thought him dead due to the paleness of his skin.

"Loki?" Thor asked in a panic, shaking his brother's shoulder. "Loki, wake up!"  
"Thor," Odin said. "Move away from Loki, now."  
"How can you say that?" Thor demanded, not moving away from Loki. "He was in obvious pain! How could you just sit there?!"  
Odin sighed and stood up. "He needs this, Thor," he said, walking over to Thor and then looking down at Loki sadly. "His lies have been poisoning his own mind for far too long."  
"He was begging," Thor said angrily.

"And that is proof," Odin said. "He clings to his lies. More so then anything. Most would consider this punishment very soft, but he acted as though it was the worst thing I could possibly do to him. He must learn to live without lying at every turn. Once he is no longer in danger of _continually_ hurting himself and others, the spell will be revoked."  
"Everyone lies every now and then," Thor continued to protest, despite seeing the logic in his father's words.

"Not everyone lies at every turn, denies every truth, and masks all emotions," Odin said evenly. "This really is for his own good, Thor. I would've thought you would be pleased, it would've been easier and much more expected for me to take one of Loki's suggestions."  
Now, Thor felt down right alarmed, not to mention quite frustrated with his father. "You mean have me kill him?" He demanded. "Throw him to the Chituari as he said?! You are his father, how could you...?"  
He trailed off, fully realizing for the first time the impact of Loki's words. Could it be possible that Odin was... no longer connected with Loki at all? Was he even still his father?  
"Yes," Odin said as if reading Thor's mind. "I am his father. That is why I must do this. Believe me, it was painful to hear him plead like that. Your brother is many things, but Loki has always been strong. I might even go as far as to call him prideful. He does not easily beg."  
"Allfather," A girl's voice said.

Thor looked up to see a tall and beautiful woman with angel blond hair walking into the room, wearing a green jeweled dress that matched the emerald color of her sharp eyes. Her lips were full and red, and she walked like a royal.

"Thank you for your assistance, Amora," the Allfather said to the girl. "Not many enchantresses could cast a spell like this one from so far away."  
The woman knelt in respect to Odin, but her eyes followed Thor and she flashed him a smile that made him uncomfortable.

"It was my pleasure, Allfather," The girl said. "It was entertaining to hear, but not to see. Your son is quite strong, not many could resist my spells for such a long time."  
"He barely lasted a full minute," Thor told the woman.  
"Yes, I know," Amora said with a laugh. "Not many people could last a minute. Not against my spells at least."  
"Your presence is no longer required," Odin told Amora. "You are dismissed."  
"Yes, Allfather," Amora said, a flash of irritation entering her eyes. She looked at Thor and gave him another smile. "My prince."  
She bowed and left, her long hair bouncing as she did so.

"Loki will awaken soon," Odin told Thor. "And then we will see if the Enchantresses spell worked as she said it will."  
"The Enchantress?" Thor asked. "Who was that woman, and why did she look at me so?"  
"Amora is a very powerful sorceress," Odin sighed. "Easily angered, but trustworthy. Since Loki left, her magic is the strongest in all of Asgard."

Thor felt a twinge of pride for his brother at that statement, and looked down at his still form.  
"This is for the best, Thor," Odin said once again. "Loki has been hiding himself, his flaws, and his thoughts for so long now I doubt that he himself knows who he is."  
"He is Loki," Thor said with determination. "He is your son, and my brother. A warrior of Asgard."  
"As I have tried to tell him," Odin said. "But his lies are so large that he refused to believe me. Maybe this way, he will see."

Thor still didn't like it (_He didn't like anything that caused his brother pain_) But he could not do anything about it, so he sighed and knelt down next to Loki, ready to help him when he awoke.

Odin grasped his eldest son's shoulder for support and then walked back to the throne.  
If Thor didn't know any better, he would've said his father didn't want to get too close to Loki.

After a few seconds of silent waiting, Loki's breathing hitched and his eyelids fluttered.

"Loki?" Thor said, reaching out a hand to brush some of the tricksters hair away, but then thinking better of it and letting his hand drop. "How do you feel, brother?"  
"Rather terrible all around," Loki stated.  
And then his eyes shot open and he sat up so suddenly that Thor jumped back.

"The spell," Loki gasped.

"Did it work?" Thor asked, talking to himself.

However, Loki answered with a small "Yes," before putting a hand over his mouth and shaking his head.

"Are you alright, Loki?" Thor asked worriedly.

"No, no I'm not," Loki said, then he cast Thor an angry look. "Stop asking questions!"  
"I'm sorry," Thor said, putting a hand over his own mouth. "I didn't mean anything. I just wanted to see if you were alright! Is there any way I can help?"  
"Probably, but I'd never let you," Loki said with growing desperation. "No, stop that, you idiot!"  
Okay, so Thor deserved that one. "I'm sorry," He said again.

"Take it off," Loki ordered, jumping to his feet and glaring at Odin. "Take it off right now or I'll..." The lie wouldn't come out.

"You'll what, exactly?" One of the officials asked.

"Nothing," Loki said. "I'll do nothing. There's nothing I would be able to do to remove it myself. SHUT UP!"  
"Loki," Thor started, but Loki whirled around and glared at him so hatefully that he instantly fell silent.

"Talk again," Loki dared him loudly. "Please; give me an excuse to strangle you with my bare hands, because I will."  
"I believe you," Thor said, holding up his hands.

At this, Loki let out a mad laugh. "You believe me?" He demanded. "That has to be the stupidest thing you've ever said, and you've said a lot of stupid things. You do realize that I am incapable of deceiving you, don't you?!"  
"Calm down," One of the officials said.

"Calm down?" Loki repeated in disbelief. "I _can't_ calm down! I'm trying!" His eyes widened again and he clutched at his hair. "SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!"  
"No one said anything!" Thor yelled, starting to panic himself. He had never seen Loki like this before.  
"I was talking to myself," Loki said, closing his eyes. "Mad people do that, Thor."  
"You're not mad," Thor said.

"Oh yes I am," Loki laughed. "What would you call this little spectacle, then? No sane person would scream at themselves."

"You're not mad," Thor said again. "You are simply upset. And it's quite understandable. You are probably confused and frightened."  
"I am not- " The lie cut off again, and Loki let out a frustrated scream, putting his arms around his head again. "I am... I'm not... TAKE IT OFF!"  
"Thor," Odin interrupted, standing from his throne. "Take your brother to his chambers. He needs time to calm down."  
Thor nodded and stepped toward Loki, who jerked away from him so quickly he stumbled to the floor.

"Stay away from me," He said wildly. "Do not touch me!"  
"Would you rather someone else take you?" Odin asked him impassively.

"No," Loki said. "But I don't want him near me."  
"Why?" Odin demanded.

"Father," Thor said in shock.

"Because I'm afraid of what might come out of my mouth," Loki said before screaming again.

"Father, be silent!" Thor ordered, to the shock of Odin and the officials.

Thor then helped Loki to his feet and pursed his lips as he led Loki from the hall.

As soon as they left the hall, Loki pulled away with a snarl. He glanced at Thor suspiciously, but Thor said nothing.

They walked along in silence until they reached Loki's quarters. Loki's _old _quarters.

"Why did you stop?" Thor asked automatically.

"Because I no longer belong here," Loki said. "Shut up."

"I'm sorry," Thor said. "I spoke without thinking."

"What a surprise," Loki said dryly.

Then, for an instant, the two once-brothers looked at each other, and then Thor let out a booming laugh.

"It is good to see you again," he said. "Don't answer. Have a rest, brother, I will ensure you are not disturbed."

With that, Thor took off down the hall, leaving Loki disturbingly, brutally honest with himself.

Managing to hold it off until he was in the safety of his old room, he laughed.

After everything that had happened on the Chitauri Homeworld, Midgard and then Asgard, Loki's magic and health was sorely depleted.

In fact, he could barely manage to stagger into a corner before collapsing in a pathetic heap and falling unconscious, not even taking in the sight of his old room exactly as he left it, all decorated in green.

No time to take off his armor or put up any sort of protective wards in his bedroom.

He could still feel traces of his old ones, but they wouldn't keep (and judging by the dusted, meticulously cleaned room, hadn't kept) out Thor.

But the blackness closed in on him like a curtain waiting to close, and he allowed himself a smirk at the irony of his weakness as he knew no more.

* * *

_Alrighty, so that's this chapter and the next one will probably be posted in around a week or two so be looking out for that. There's gonna be some action in the next chapter! Anyways... Goodbye._

_Jo~_


	3. Fire and Ice

_Sorry! I know I promised you a week and I'm late. I just kept procrastinating, and whenever I thought about it I was busy, and I had to go to a picnic, and a Barbeque. I feel bad about it, I really do. But at least it's here now._

_Gosh, so many people have followed and favorited and reviewed and all that though. I feel all committed now thanks to you guys so... Good job. That's hard to do with me sometimes._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel, Loki, Thor, Amora, or any of this large marvelous (see what I did there?) universe. All that belongs mostly to Stan Lee and the other, not as important people. STAN LEE FOREVER!_

* * *

Loki woke up to a girl's murmuring, his eyes adjusting to see a pretty blonde woman standing above him and grinning smugly.

He didn't allow himself to jump back, but the girl's smile widened like she read his emotions in his face.

"Do you need directions to the Throne Room?" Loki inquired sarcastically, straightening and adjusting his armor. He really shouldn't be sleeping in it, he noted dully as his muscles protested the movement.

"Oh, no," The blonde girl giggled. "I was actually looking for you. My name is Amora."  
Loki slipped a knife into his hand slowly so that she wouldn't notice and tilted his head to the side.

"My pleasure, Amora," He said. "But as you can see, this is my room..."  
"Do you really think that will work?" Amora asked with a wide shark grin.

"No," Loki answered immediately, trying to adjust his icy expression into a falsely good-natured one. "In fact, I'm certain that you know that. Have you come to kill me?"  
"Now why would I kill you?" Amora asked curiously.

"Because you might hate me for my past transgressions and want to take this moment of weakness in my magic and health to incapacitate me, as most likely you will find it quite easy," Loki said, all in one breath. He hissed angrily, but Amora looked rather pleased.

"So it did work then," She said. "Good. I'd been worried."  
"You set the spell," Loki stated, his eyes widening before he narrowed them. "Take it off right now."  
"There's not really much you can do," Amora chuckled lightly. "The way you are now, I doubt you can stand."  
"I'll find the strength," Loki promised. "Rage has been known to spur on my movements."  
"Ah, but haven't you noticed my _new_ spell?" Amora asked.  
"No," Loki frowned. "What...?" And then he trailed off, because he couldn't move. It wasn't like he didn't think he had the strength, but that he was too tired. Like his body suddenly weighed a ton.

"You will try to break it?" Amora wondered.

"Of course," Loki spat at her, already throwing his remaining magic into doing so. "I wouldn't take this lying down."

"Figuratively, of course," Amora commented. "Not literally, considering that you actually are lying down."  
Loki rolled his eyes. "What do you want, Sorceress?" He asked.  
"Enchantress," Amora corrected. "The one and the only. And as for what I want, I bet you could give me plenty of very good information."  
"You are pathetic," Loki spat at her. "A coward to attack a man who is unable to defend himself properly."  
"Ha, not falling for that one," Amora told him. "Now, what all do you know about Thor?"  
"Nearly everything," Loki said before gritting his teeth. "What do you want with Thor?"  
"Why do you care?" Amora shot back.

"Because he's my brother," Loki answered before closing his eyes, straining against the spell that kept him down. It loosened slightly and he managed to go to one knee, gasping for breath.

"You really are quite committed," Amora said, staring at Loki in fascination. "But right now I'm not too worried about that, as you said, you're weak."

"Not as weak as you might think," Loki told her, trying to project confidence.

Amora just shook her head at him sympathetically. "But you consider yourself pathetic, right?" She asked.

"Yes," Loki said, and then he shouted, trying to lunge at the woman and ending up only moving an inch.

"Tsk, tsk," Amora clucked disapprovingly. "You'll never get ahead in life like that, my Prince. So tell me: What are Thor's weaknesses in battle?"  
Loki tried to keep his mouth shut, but the answers were ripped from him unwillingly.  
"He shows-off," He told her, trying to stop this. "That gives you a time advantage. He is also very upfront in his attacks and relies mostly on the force of his strength coupled with the power behind his hammer. His lightning only helps machinery and can be avoided if you're quick enough and he gets easily confused and isn't as graceful in battle as he could be. And he celebrates victory too soon. SHUT UP!"  
"Oh, but you can't," Amora said happily. "Now I know that you will tell me all I need to know! Tell me about Midgard. What is Midgard like?"  
"Smaller then Asgard and lower in some ways but higher in others," Loki told her, this time bewildered. "It is defended by a group called the Avengers and a few more sparse and not as powerful beings. It has very odd cultures and isn't ruled over-all by one king, but by many kings, or sometimes the people. Why? What do you want with Midgard?"  
"Interesting question," Amora told him. "And what is Thor's attachment to Midgard and it's people?"  
"He has a woman there," Loki said, noticing the way Amora's eyes tightened at this. "A Midgardian scientist named Jane that he's in love with. Also, he has friends there that he must protect, the Avengers and others like Eric Selvig and Darcy Lewis. I suppose he grew an attachment there during his banishment."  
"You don't like this... Jane?" Amora asked, spitting the females name.

"No, I don't," Loki answered. "Why do you want this knowledge? Why are you here?"  
"I told you, answers," Amora said flippantly. And then her eyes grew wide and she smiled gently, though not at Loki. "Do you think that Thor would ever consider me for a bride?" She asked.

"No," Loki said honestly. Amora looked back at him, her eyes flashing.  
"Why?" She demanded.

"Because he's promised to Foster," Loki said. "And he's far too loyal for that. Also, I'm not sure he would like _this_ very much." Here he looked down at himself, straining with all his might and magic and just managing to lurch toward the wall.

"But you won't tell him about this," Amora laughed. "Because you won't live for him to see it."  
Loki looked up at her curiously with a mocking quirk of an eyebrow, he wasn't too worried about the death threat. Wasn't death what he had always wanted?

"As far as I'm concerned," Amora continued. "You're just a toy to get what I want out of before into the rubbish heap you go, too broken to play with."  
The words hit just a bit too close to home and Loki screamed as he finally broke away from the curse and sprung at Amora, ready to rip her open with his bare hands, only to find himself falling through her.

"One of your favorites, right?" Amora laughed from the other side of the room.

"Yes," Loki gasped as soon as he had rolled out of his fall. He threw his knife at her, and she sidestepped it easily. "I _am_ rather fond of that one."  
"Feeling a little lightheaded?" Amora said sympathetically.  
"Yes," Loki shouted, starting to get desperate again. "Now shut up or I will -"  
"Kill me," Amora finished for him. "But sadly, you no longer have the strength for that. Poor Loki. Used up all his magic fighting Amora's bad spell. Barely strong enough to stand.

Loki threw three more of his knifes in rapid succession, but Amora dodged them all and even took one and began playing with it boredly.

"You're slipping, Loki," She said regrettably. "You know, all I want to know is what it would take for my Thor to fall in love with me."  
"If you were the last two people after Ragnarok he still wouldn't love you," Loki snarled. "You are delusional!"

"I am not!" Amora screamed, suddenly seeming as mad as Loki himself. "Why wouldn't he love me?" The question seemed rhetorical, and Loki grinned widely.

"He's already in love, and you're insane," Loki told her. "Thor has had a history of making foolish decisions but even he wouldn't be so blind as to believe you anything but a viper."  
Amora threw Loki's knife at him, but he managed to pull up a shield spell just in time. He staggered, weakened, and Amora flew at him. They rolled right through the bedroom door and toppled into the hall, Amora on the top of their heap.

"Looks like we're about to get an audience," She laughed sadistically. "And I don't suppose I need him to _really_ love me. Minds are my specialty. I'm called the Enchantress for a reason, you know."  
Loki conjured flames into her hair and laughed madly when she screamed and jumped off of him so fast that she fell over.

"Touch him and I'll kill you," He said through his laughter, stumbling to his feet again.

"You'll pay for that one, Odinson," Amora snapped angrily. Green ice poured from her hands and flew toward Loki, and he had just enough time to shout in surprise and fear before he found himself pressed against the wall, the cold seeping into his skin.  
"What...?" Amora said in shock, staring at him as if he had grown another head before throwing back her head and laughing. "You're a Frost Giant?" She asked.

"Yes," The admission was more painful then Loki would ever like to say, but he made it as cutting as he possibly could before blowing all of Amora's ice back at her, along with a bit of his own.

She screamed and leapt away, but then continued laughing. "This is just too rich," She laughed.

"Be silent," Loki hissed at her, the warmth slowly coming back over him and making the hated patterns all over him disappear. "For this, you will pay."  
"A Frost Giant, in the Allfather's house," Amora giggled, getting to her feet again. "No wonder you think you're pathetic. What it must have done to you! Bit small for a Frost Giant, though, aren't you?"  
"I was a runt," Loki said, and then he rushed toward her again.

Amora blasted him backward and through a stone wall, and as Loki blinked hazily and tried to stand again, he heard several shouts before a table was sent flying at him and he had to throw himself to the side to avoid it.

When he looked back up, Amora was gone and several guards were looking around the room in complete confusion as a maid who had been cleaning the room he was now in (one of the sitting rooms) tried to get her hysterical friend to come out from behind a cupboard.

* * *

Thor strode into the hall that led to Loki's room with the intention of bringing his brother some food and stopped, accidently dropping the tray of food in shock at the sight before him.

The hall was half-frozen and half-burnt, had knives embedded into one wall and a giant hole in another that led to a trashed looking sitting room, which contained a flock of servants, one of the councilmen, and Loki, who was being held by three different guards.

"Odin's beard..." Thor said, tongue tied as he walked through the hole in the wall.

Several pairs of eyes snapped to him, and everyone began talking at once.

"My Prince, we don't know what happened-"

"And then it just exploded-"

"Tables flying everywhere, ice storms in the hall-"

"Disappeared like smoke and-"

"Couldn't find where she had gone-"

"Asking what happened but he keeps-"  
"Such a stream of-"

"Would've contacted the Allfather but-"

"Never heard in my days."

Thor hesitated, having hardly caught any of that. "... What?" He asked simply.

"They said," Loki started, looking exhausted and upset but still fighting against the hold of the guards. "That they didn't know what happened, and the maids were just cleaning when suddenly the wall-"  
"It's alright, Loki," Thor said, holding up his hands to stop him. "You don't have to continue."

Loki rolled his eyes at him like 'you think I have a choice'. He looked far worse then he had when Thor left him. His face was covered in soot, his lip was split, he had dents in his armor, a cut on his forehead, and shards of wood stuck in his hair.

"Let him go," Thor snapped at the guards. "Can't you see he's injured?"  
Loki opened his mouth, but no sound came out so Thor guessed he'd been about to say he was fine. The guards let him go and Thor had to dart forward quickly and catch him before he hit the floor.

"Let me go," Loki spat at him, trying to pull away weakly.

"What happened?" Thor asked without thinking, looking over Loki's injuries.

"The Enchantress paid me a visit and we got in a little spat," Loki hissed angrily. "Good thing I had this lovely new truth spell, isn't it? Why would she kill me as long as she needed information?"  
"What?" Thor said again.

"I said that the Enchantress paid me a visit," Loki shouted, managing to pull away. "And she placed a spell on me that I couldn't fight because my reserves were low and interrogated me while I could do nothing but answer her!"

"But..." Thor hesitated, furrowing his eyebrows. "But, Father said that she was trustworthy."  
"Fa... _Odin_ was wrong," Loki snapped.

"If she wasn't trustworthy, why would Father let her perform the spell against you?" Thor asked, aghast. Loki scoffed.

"He must've gotten the most powerful mage he could, never mind the risk involved," He said bitterly. "I'm the greatest sorcerer of my time. Anyone else, and he would not be certain I wouldn't break their spell like a twig. He needed me desperate and contained and if the Enchantress went after me, then so be it. Everything for the kingdom, right?"  
Thor was shocked and upset by Loki's words, but all he could manage to get out was "Are - Are you alright?"  
"No!" Loki said, and suddenly he was blinking back tears. "No, of course I'm not alright! How could I be alright?!"

Thor tried to reach for him, to comfort him, but Loki turned away from him, taking deep calming breaths.

"I-I..." Thor stuttered uncertainly to Loki's back. A guard came up to him, casting Loki a suspicious glance.

"My Prince," He said with a bow. "The Enchantress Amora _was_ here, and seemed to have very ill intentions. She disappeared before we had to chance to apprehend her and none of us are so skilled in magic that we could follow her."  
"Why not let Loki follow her?" Thor asked.

"Well you see, my Prince," The guard said, clearing his throat awkwardly. "We were not sure if the Allfather would allow it. And..."  
"Speak your mind, guard," Thor said, annoyed. "I have no patience for your hesitancy."

"I am not well versed in magic," The guard said uncomfortably. "And know little of such things, but I know that physically, the Prince is not well. And if his health is suffering, then surely his magic must be as well. I did not want to risk his majesty's life by sending him, exhausted, to face a threat."  
Thor blinked at him, surprised by his kindness, as it was fairly obvious the guard did not trust Loki.

"Thank you for your consideration," Thor said for Loki, who was still turned away. "In that light, my brother needs to see a healer and-"  
"And nothing, Thor," Loki said, turning back to the conversation. He didn't seem as angry or upset as he had been before, just tired. "Even if I do need medical attention, I am not accepting it. I will heal."  
"But Loki," Thor started. "You are unwell."  
"I know that, you idiot," Loki snarled. "But I don't care. I am exhausted and I'm going to bed. If you could be so kind as to leave me be."  
With that, he stormed away angrily, walking through the hole in the wall and through his depleted wooden door.

A guard started forward, but Thor held out a hand to stop him.  
"Let him rest," He said.

"Prince," The councilman who had been in the room said as he walked toward Thor, frowning in disapproval. "You have no obligations towards that traitor. If you ask me, he has no place here. I am surprised he was not sentenced to death."  
"Hold your tongue," Thor said angrily, shocked. "He is still a prince of Asgard!"  
"With all due respect Sire," The councilman said with a thin smile. "Loki is a prince of Asgard no more. He himself disclaims the title and frankly, we are all taken aback by his light punishment. Many of us in the council believe him deserving of death. He has a place amongst us no longer."  
"You should be hung for such words," Thor told him, trying to contain his anger. "Loki is a son of Odin and my brother and you will treat him as such or I will teach you to heed my words."  
"A son of Odin?" The councilman repeated. He leaned forward conspiratorially. "The Frost Giant runt?"

Instead of bothering to answer him, Thor made good on his threats. He summoned Mjonir to him and hit the surprised councilman on the head. The weak man instantly crumbled and the occupants of the room drew in a collective breath.

"Anyone else?" Thor demanded through gritted teeth, Mjonir still in hand.

The guards all shook their heads and the maids only offered squeaks. One of them fainted.

"Good," Thor said. "Clean up this mess. I must have words with my father."

* * *

_There you guys go and I hope you enjoyed it. My apologies once again for the late date. I'm not sure when I'm going to get the next chapter up, because I haven't written __anything__ for it yet. But here's hoping, huh?_

_Oh, and side note: I had someone ask if this story would be BlackFrost. Sorry to disappoint you, but I don't actually have much romance planned other then a little bit of Pepperony (I love it when they talk over each other) and the one-sided obsessive romance that Amora invented in her head with her and Thor. Kind of sad if you ask me._

_OH! And another side note: I actually have a really hard time writing for Odin. I don't think he's evil or overly selfish or anything, but I know that sometimes he's not the best dad ('No, Loki?' Was that really all he could say?!). But I'm trying to write both sides of it, and Thor loves and trusts his father while Loki also loves him but tries not to and is inclined to be skeptic about everything he says, so I'm trying to portray that. You guys will see more of him in the next chapter, and I'm hoping to put Frigga in as well, but maybe not. I don't know, but you'll find out in the next chapter. So follow the story. Favorite it. Review. And then... Watch those updates!_


	4. How Halfviti Fell Out of Favor

_Hey guys. First of all, wow! So many reviews and followers and favorites! I'm so glad that you all like this story so much and thanks for all the support and good comments. Second of all, sorry for the wait. I've had some serious writers block, and quite a hard time getting the characters right for this chapter. I hope I did a good enough job for all you guys. ;)_

_Also, this chapter is a little shorter then I'd like, but the next will probably be longer and, considering what a hard time I had with this one, a little shortness is appropriate._

_Disclaimer: As always I own not Marvel, Loki, Thor, their parents or pretty much anything you recognize. Also, some ideas or storyline throughout this tale belongs to my glorious sister PlushChrome. If you like my stories, check out hers._

_JoAmazing~_

* * *

"Father," Thor called as he walked into the Throne Room, spotting Odin and his mother talking with some councilmen. "I must speak with you."  
"Ah, Thor," Odin said, looking up from some scrolls. "Come in. Your mother and I were just discussing some of the new treaties with Jotunheim."  
"Welcome back home, Thor," Frigga said gently. "I apologize for the fact that I could not be here for Loki's trial, but I was quite busy. Was he too upset that I wasn't there?"  
"Er..." Thor hesitated, not sure how to tell his mother that Loki hadn't inquired about her at all.  
"How is Loki?" Odin interrupted, saving Thor from answering. "I trust he was no trouble?"  
"Yes, no trouble," Thor agreed. "He was a little defensive, but otherwise very complying. However, there is a very important matter concerning Loki that I feel I must speak with about."  
Odin and Frigga exchanged surprised, anxious glances.

"Very well," Odin said, putting down the scroll he was holding. "I suppose Jotunheim can wait a little longer. What did you want to inform me of?"  
"I was hoping to have a private conference," Thor said, looking at the officials pointedly.

"What does my Prince have to say that cannot be told in the presence of his father's most trusted men?" One of the councilmen inquired.

"MY LORD!"

The councilman who had insulted Loki before came staggering into the room. He appeared to have run all the way to the Throne Room after regaining consciousness, because he was gasping wildly for breath, a large bump on his head.

He ran up to Odin, but gave Thor a very wide berth.

"My lord," The councilman gasped again.

"What is it, Councilman Halfviti?" Odin said. "I hope you have just come from a battle and are therefore delirious. For that is the only reason I can fathom as to why you would come into this room unannounced."  
"A battle of sorts, Allfather," Halfviti said, casting Thor a glare. "I come to you with complaints of the crown prince Thor."  
"Thor?" Frigga repeated in confusion. "What has Thor done?"  
"He struck me with his hammer!" Halfviti told her.  
"Father, he said terrible things about Loki," Thor defended himself. "I warned him to still his lying tongue twice and yet he continued to disrespect Loki's position as Prince as well as saying that we were not brothers and that he was not your son!"  
Odin turned back to councilman Halfviti, who sneered.

"My lord knows that I hold the highest regard for the royal family," He said. "But the Trickster is no more then a cast aside Frost Giant."  
"I warn you yet again, you ignorant imbecile," Thor snapped. "If you dare say another word about Loki as long as you live, I will have you beheaded!"  
"Thor, calm yourself," Odin said.

"But Father, he-" Thor started.

"Ah, Prince," Halfviti tutted in sympathy. "It is no wonder that you are not yet king. The Allfather has much more wisdom. I understand the ties that you may have with the Laufeyson, but even you must realize that he is not worthy of bread and water."  
"Father," Thor said, clenching his teeth. "If you do not do something about this parasite, I will personally make it so that he is slaughtered in the snow of Jotunheim by none other then the one he mocks for something he cannot control."  
"Are you suggesting that you would have the silver-tongued Frost Giant kill _me_, an Aesir of the highest regard?" Halfviti spluttered.

"His name is Loki," Frigga said angrily. "And perhaps it _would_ teach you to see past the surface of your obnoxious and unfounded beliefs."  
"A mother's love is so committed," Halfviti said with a bow to Frigga. "It is most honorable of course, my lady queen. But this 'Prince' is no more than-"

"Finish that sentence," Thor dared, summoning Mjonir again.-

Halfviti's hands jumped to the bump on his head and he took a step back from Thor before turning back to Odin. "My Lord," He said. "Surely you can talk some sense into your family. You are most wise, and I can see that you at least understand that the position of the Laufeyson separates him from your own royal family.

"Councilman Halfviti," Odin said, standing up straighter. "You are relieved of duty for showing disrespect to a prince of Asgard."  
"My lord, I hold the highest regard for the crown prince," Halfviti protested. "I simply would like to know that he will be punished for attacking me!"  
"I meant," Odin said with a small, very Loki-ish smirk. "The disrespect you have shown this day for my second son. Loki _Odinson_, who is and always will be considered a royal prince of Asgard. And I would watch what you say about him. The sons of Odin have been known for their tempers. And if you continue to spew such abhorring words, I would be hard pressed to tell you which of my sons will make you regret them."  
Everyone gaped at him and he turned and sat back down on his Throne.  
"Now," Odin said. "Go see the healer about that bump. And as for the rest of you, leave me. I will be in private conference until I say otherwise and no one is to enter this room."

There was a chorus of 'Yes, Allfather', and all of the councilmen bowed and left, even Halfviti, who seemed shocked into submission for now.

"I will stay," Frigga said, setting her jaw stubbornly.

"I would not ask anything else of you," Odin told her, rubbing his temples.  
"Oh, father," Thor exclaimed, beaming at him. "I knew you would not let such atrocities pass! Though I would have given him much more then a removal from your services for the words he spoke. Loki will not believe any of this!"  
"That is enough, Thor," Odin said, though he was smiling. "You had something important to tell me, remember?"  
"Oh, yes, of course," Thor said. "Earlier this night when I went to take Loki some food, I found the hall outside his room in a state of ruin, with a hole in the wall that led to an equally wrecked sitting room."  
"Was this Loki's work?" Odin asked warily.

"No," Thor told him before considering. "Well, perhaps he inflicted some of the damage, but it was not his fault. The Enchantress Amora was the one responsible."

"Amora?" Frigga repeated in shock. "Freya's daughter?"  
"Thor, she is trustworthy," Odin said, also looking troubled. "She has been imperative in the repairs of the Bifrost. What makes you say she is the cause of these troubles?"  
"Loki told me so," Thor told him. "And as you know, he does not lie."  
"Is Loki alright?" Frigga demanded worriedly.

"Yes, he is fine," Thor assured her. "He is tired and frustrated and has some minor injuries, but nothing that will not heal. He is resting at the moment, but I fear that she may return."  
"She was not captured?" Odin said with a frown.

"No, she used her magic to escape," Thor explained, starting to pace. "And of course none of them were practiced in sorcery. And Loki could not follow her because he was exhausted. Physically, mentally, and magically."  
"Yes, it is good that Loki did not follow her," Odin said thoughtfully.  
"And what of the spell?" Frigga asked.

"Amora used the spell against him," Thor told her. "According to Loki, she placed a different spell on him that he could not easily fight due to his magic being low and then interrogated him. What she asked him, I know not."  
"Oh, my poor Loki," Frigga said sadly. "What a trial it must have been for him!"  
"I fear Asgard is no longer safe for him," Thor said. "Amora seems to have knowledge of it and of Loki. And Halfviti's attitude towards him worries me also. I wonder how many within this castle, and indeed the whole realm, would want to misuse the curse."  
"What would you suggest?" Odin questioned. Thor thought for a second.

"Let me take him to Midgard," He said on a sudden burst of inspiration. "He will be safer there."  
"Midgard?" Frigga said, frowning. "After all that has happened there?"  
"The humans are more forgiving than you would think," Thor said. "They do not live long enough to hold such grudges. And I would not reveal the curse to anyone that I do not consider trustworthy and honorable."

"Thor, this may not be a good idea," Odin said. "Loki's sanity is fragile, perhaps going to Midgard would not be safe for him."  
"It would be safer than him staying here," Thor countered. "And it might be a good idea to let him experience first hand the kindness of humans. Also, one of my Shield Brothers there has much Midgardian wealth and a metal home with plenty of room. He is very generous, and the others that might be staying there are very understanding. I am certain that they could accommodate us."

"I am more worried about what they might do to him," Odin said. "They might eventually be able to see the hope that we see, but we must remember that it is their home that Loki tried to destroy such a short time ago. They will not forget that."  
"I believe that they will listen," Thor said. "And give him a chance even if they do not like or trust him. But if things go badly, know that I will protect Loki to my last, even against my own Shield Brothers and Sister."

"I know you will, Thor," Odin said, and then he sighed. "Very well. I will trust you to know what is best. We have gathered enough energy from the Bifrost to send you both there. When do you expect to leave?"  
"I know not," Thor said. "I have not thought about it. As soon as possible, I suppose, but Loki does need his rest."  
"Tomorrow?" Odin suggested. "Around midday? That leaves more then ten hours for rest, and for you to explain to him what has happened."  
"Aye," Thor agreed. "That sounds very reasonable. Will you be seeing us off?"  
"Yes," Odin said with a small smile. "I believe that is acceptable."  
"I will be there as well," Frigga said, not leaving room for negotiations. "If Loki is to be taken from us so quickly, I will at least see him before he leaves us."  
Odin and Thor both nodded their consent and she smiled.

"Good, that is good," Thor said. "I thought there would be more of a fight."  
"I can be reasonable, Thor," Odin said, rolling his eyes. "Now, Loki should be informed of our plans for him."  
"He is very tired," Thor bit his lip. "I do not want to wake him."

Odin considered that for a second. "Very well," He said. "In the morning, you will tell him. Also, tell him that he will be free to use his magic, but only as long as he does not _mis_use it. I am trusting him with this, but he will be bound if the need arises. It becomes his choice."  
"Yes Father," Thor said. He bowed and left, smiling slightly to himself.

Yes. Loki would not believe any of this.

"I don't believe any of this," Loki said.  
Thor had gone to Loki's room in the morning, ready to inform his brother of everything that had happened, from him hitting councilman Halfviti on the head to Odin's message. Throughout the whole tale, Loki said nothing, but his eyes grew wider and wider during the course of the story until he looked quite odd indeed.

Especially due to the fact that the largeness of his eyes only emphasized the reddish-purple bruises under them that said he didn't sleep well and the sickly paleness of his skin.

All his little cuts from his fight with the Enchantress were gone now though, and the woodchips were out of his now combed hair, which was starting to get a bit too long. So all in all, Thor would say he looked better.

Not good. But better.

"It all happened, Brother," Thor told him ecstatically. " I myself was so surprised by all that transpired that I can scarcely believe it, but my words are true!"

Loki pressed his lips and tugged on a piece of his hair thoughtfully.

He looked so... _normal_ when he did that. Thor felt himself beam in response, which just made his brother look more confused.

"Thor," He said with a long suffering sigh. "If Odin really said all that, then he's as big a fool as you are."  
Thor opened his mouth to protest, but Loki held up a hand and he stopped himself, frowning.

"And if Frigga really acted that way," Loki continued. "Then I would go so far as to call her stupid. And I already know that _you're_ an idiot, but I feel as though I must remind you yet again that everything councilman Halfviti said is true."  
"Loki, that is ridiculous," Thor told him. "He spoke terrible words of you."  
"I am a terrible person, Thor," Loki said with a shark like grin. "Perhaps it should be considered honorable that he sought to warn you of the dangerous waters that you have found yourself treading. How unreasonable of Odin to dismiss such a committed and loyal man."  
"You are not a terrible person, Brother," Thor exclaimed. "How can you say such things?!"  
"Because I believe them," Loki said, gazing at Thor, partially exasperated and partially mystified. "You are so thick headed."  
"_I_ am thick headed?" Thor repeated in disbelief.  
"Yes, that is what I said," Loki told him.

"Loki, if anyone is being stubborn, it is you," Thor said, sinking down into a chair and putting his head in his hands. "We. Want. To. Help. You."  
"Why?" Loki demanded in bewilderment. "Why would you help me? What are you hoping to accomplish?"  
"We are not aiming at some sort of goal," Thor said, raising his voice slightly. "We are simply worried for you!"  
"No, there is always an angle," Loki said. He began to pace, wringing his hands as he did so. "There is always something you seek to gain in return. Take me in, so one day you can use me to further your own desires. But what does he want? To control me? To... to make me pay for my crimes? Is there a some sort of trap awaiting me on Midgard? And why would he not bind my magic? That is absolutely illogical. With my magic, I am powerful. I am harder to control. Perhaps he thinks to put me in a false sense of security?"  
Thor stared at Loki as he paced back and forth wildly, continuing to jabber on without needing any input from Thor. He was working himself into a frenzy, so Thor stood up again.

"Loki," He said.

"And what does he mean by seeing me off, besides," Loki continued, ignoring Thor. "Why would he feel like he has to come? To protect you? To make sure I do not run away or jump off of the Bifrost again?"  
Thor had not considered that as an option before, and it frightened him into action. He reached forward and grasped Loki's shoulders, pulling the younger god to a stop.

Loki was shaking under Thor's hands, but he glared just as he always did.

"Let go of me, Odinson," He snapped.

"Can you not just call me Thor?" Thor asked, rolling his eyes.

"I could," Loki answered. "Now let go. What do you want?"  
"I want you to calm down," Thor told him gently. "You are speaking of things that I do not like at all."  
"You cannot expect me to just toss aside a lifetime of lies," Loki scoffed. "Odin always has a purpose for everything that he does and I am certain that there is a double meaning in this that perhaps you are too oblivious to see."  
"That is not what I was speaking of," Thor said, looking at Loki firmly and tightening his grip a bit supportively. "Though I do not agree with you, I understand your hesitancy when it comes to Father. However, I was referring to your reference to your fall from the Bifrost. I fear that you will make a second attempt on your life, and I cannot bare to lose you."

"That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard," Loki snapped, glowering at Thor. "For heavens sake, Thor, get it into your thick skull! I'm bad! I'm a Frost Giant! A savage, stupid, murderer that-"

"Wait," Thor protested. "I disagree with every part of these words, but you said 'stupid'. As in, senseless and mindless."  
Loki stared at the floor and played with the hem of his green shirt.

"I did not mean to," He said after a charged second, his voice surprisingly quiet. "I know that I am clever." Than, after another moment. "Sometimes I am dull."  
"That statement is dull," Thor said, staring at Loki in shock. "You are one of the sharpest, most knowledgeable people that I know! How could you think that you are unintelligent?!"  
"I just told you," Loki snapped. "I do not think I am unintelligent! I know that I am clever, but _sometimes_ I am dull! _Sometimes_ I think I am related to people that I look absolutely nothing like."

Thor opened his mouth and then closed it again, not sure what to say to that.

"Now can you let go of me?" Loki inquired, raising his eyebrows. "I swear I will not jump out the nearest window."  
The tone was sarcastic, but the words were no doubt true, so Thor dropped his hands from his brother's shoulders. Loki stepped back, rubbing his shoulder absently and setting his jaw.

"Loki," Thor sighed. "Why are you so stubborn all the time?"  
"Something ingrained, I would imagine," Loki answered, rolling his eyes at the question. "I cannot condone being in the wrong. So I pretend to always be right, even if I know that I am wrong. Would you stop asking so many questions?"  
"Oh," Thor said, surprised. "I am sorry, Brother, I forgot about the curse for a brief moment."  
"Lucky you," Loki muttered before speaking up. "Now, I believe you said we were to leave around midday?"  
"Odin's blood, it's almost time!" Thor exclaimed, looking out the window. "Are you prepared to go, Loki?"  
"I am always prepared," Loki scoffed. "Magic, remember? And what did I say about all the questions? At least make an attempt."

Thor wanted to snap at Loki that he didn't see _him_ making an attempt, but he took a deep breath and reminded himself to choose his battles. After all, Loki thought he was a savage, stupid, murderer.  
"Very well, Brother," Thor said brightly instead of arguing. "Father and Mother will be waiting for us in the Entrance Hall."  
He bounced out of Loki's room, catching his brother's exasperated look.

"Joy," Loki said sarcastically, falling into step behind Thor.

Thor held back his grimace and smiled at Loki, who simply shook his head and looked away.

They walked for quite a while in silence before Loki suddenly spoke up.

"I thought I broke the Bifrost," He said, frowning.  
"You did," Thor confirmed cautiously, unsure where Loki was going with this.

"You certainly fixed it soon," Loki commented.

"It has been at least a year since you fell," Thor corrected, casting the mischief god a look. "And it is not yet fixed. You do not know how long it has been?"  
"No, the hours bleed into days," Loki said, waving an uncaring hand. "Time has little meaning in the Chitauri Homeworld and I confess myself too busy to care much for it while I was on Midgard. Not to mention that it is hard to keep track of days and months when one cannot see the light."  
"See the-" Thor started to repeat.

"Do not ask, Thor," Loki said with a glare. "If you ask I _will_ jump off of the Bifrost."  
"I will not ask, than," Thor gulped. "It is not fair to use that as a threat, Brother."  
"It is as fair as forcing answers unwilling from my lips," Loki countered. "And stop calling me your brother."  
"I refuse," Thor told him. "And if you say that you will kill yourself if I do not oblige, know that I will not let you fall by yourself again, _Brother_. You jump, and I will jump after you."  
Loki stared at him and then looked away, evidently unsure of what to say.

"And you think me incapable of being crafty," Thor said with a smirk. "I _did_ grow up with you. Something was bound to rub off."  
"Oh yes," Loki agreed, slightly sarcastic. "It figures that you would pick up on that and not the common sense that I have tried to instill in you for eons."

"You are the sensible one, Loki," Thor smiled. "I am the adventurous one."

"And that has worked so well for us in the past," Loki laughed slightly. And then he seemed to catch himself and glared. "The Allfather is not known for his patience," He said snappishly. "We should try not to keep his royal highness waiting."

* * *

_So, I hope you all liked this, like I said... Sorry it was late. By the way, I really didn't mean to make Odin kind of likable. I actually don't like him much at all and it was an accident! I feel like I had to say that._

_Also, Halfviti is Icelandic for 'idiot'. And because we never see Halfviti again, I think I should tell you what happens to him._

_Halfviti was sent out of the palace and spent his years as something of a banker in a town near the royal city. He remained loyal to Odin and transferred his loyalties to Thor when it was his time to reign. He balded at the equivalent of forty seven Midgardian years and spent his life jumping at loud noises, shushing anyone who insulted the royal family, and openly reprimanding those that insulted Loki. One of his daughters became an Ambassador to Jotunheim and helped to dissolve some of the prejudices against the Frost Giants. Bjarni Halfvitison, Halfviti's third eldest, moved into the castle and ended up tending Loki's horse. And his wife Halldora, a healer, became close to Frigga after working in the castle for a few years, thus reestablishing the family's connection to the royal family._

_Halfviti died of a heart attack at the equivalent age of sixty four Midgardian years after his youngest, sweetest, and most lovely daughter told him that she was marrying a Jotun. Little did he know that it was Byleister, brother of the King Helblindi. And more then that, brother of Loki. Meaning that, by adoption, the entire Halfviti family was related to Odin. And any that didn't move to Jotunheim moved to the castle and became quite respected, though Bjarni continued to take care of Loki's horse for the rest of his days._

_Just thought you might be interested._

_Next chapter, the awkward meeting with the parents, the Rainbow Bridge, and a bit of the Avengers if all goes well. So be ready and watch those updates._

_JoAmazing~_


	5. Almost Family

_Okay so, I wrote this whole thing, but when I went back to edit something, my beginning AN was gone. So, really you guys rock. Your reviews never fail to make me smile and I love hearing that I'm doing a good job, and that you guys like the story even past writers block and the several spelling mistakes I have noticed that I've made on previous chapters. I like you all._

_Disclaimer, nothing belongs to me but the storyline. Even the editing of most of this story must be credited to my always fantastical sister known here as PlushChrome. If you dig this fan fiction, then you should totes check out hers. She and I co-write a lot._

_Jo~_

* * *

"Mother," Thor called, swinging open the large door that led to the Entrance Hall. "Fa..."  
He stopped, trailing off as he realized that the corridor was filled with about twenty people.

Odin and Frigga stood near the end of the hall where most of the people were converging, both looking frustrated. Two young boys stood by, holding the reigns to two steeds. One white and the other black.

"What is happening?" Thor demanded, walking forward. Loki quickly followed behind, looking at the crowds suspiciously and staying slightly behind Thor.

"Thor, my son," Odin sighed. "It is nothing."  
"Liar," Loki mumbled under his breath. Thor threw him a look and he huffed. "It's obviously something," He said, louder then before. "Just because I am incapable of lying myself doesn't make his falsehoods more convincing."  
"No, he is right," Odin said warily.  
Loki looked surprised at the admission and raised an eyebrow.

"Then what is it?" Thor asked. "Why have these people gathered thus?"  
Odin turned to the gathered crowd.

"Go," He told them, and then turned to the two young boys as the crowd left. "And you shall go and wait outside for the princes."  
"Yes, Allfather," The two boys chirped, turning and leading the horses through the front door.  
"One of Heimdall's messengers came not an hour past," Odin said once everyone had left. "Amora the Enchantress left his sight, and the guards tell me she is no where in Asgard."  
"Where is she?" Thor asked. "And how did she escape Heimdall's sight?"  
"Loki?" Odin turned to the younger god with a somewhat stern frown. "There is your way, is there not?"  
"Yes, there is," Loki answered. "But it is a rather hard spell and takes quite a lot of practice. However, you yourself know how experienced she is."  
"Aye, that she is," Odin nodded.

"I still cannot believe that Amora could do such things," Frigga spoke up. "She seemed so sweet and driven! Do you remember her from your youth, Thor?"  
"No," Thor frowned, confused. "I do not believe I have ever met her before in my life. Have I, Loki?"  
"Not in my recollection," Loki said, sounding confused as well.  
"You never met her?" Frigga asked as she looked between the two of them. "Surely you met her mother? Freya?"  
"Certainly," Thor agreed. Loki nodded, but then apparently _had_ to answer the question out loud.

"Yes," He said with a growl. "She was the one with the cloak that could fly. I stole it once."  
"Yes, I..." Frigga trailed off, her blue eye's widening. "You did what?"  
"Stole the flying cloak," Loki said unconcernedly. "And then Thor impersonated her when she refused to help us reclaim Mjonir."  
Frigga's mouth hung open and she looked at Thor.

"He does not lie," Thor told her. "We never... we never told you that story?"  
"Thor impersonated her," Odin repeated, completely bemused. "How in Valhalla did _Thor_ impersonate _Freya_?"

"Well as long as you're asking..." Loki smirked.

"Loki," Thor protested, turning to Loki and glaring. "We swore we would never speak of it again!"  
"But he asked," Loki said, still grinning smugly. "And you looked lovely in white."

"I do not want to know," Odin sighed, rubbing his temples. "I relinquish the question. Now, about Amora. We know not where she went, but we have our suspicions that she went to Alfheim. She always-"

"No," Loki interrupted. "She is not in Alfheim."

Thor blinked at him, and Odin and Frigga looked just as surprised.

"How... I am wondering how you know this," Thor said carefully.

"She is either here or on Midgard," Loki said, ignoring Thor. "When we... talked... I might have accidently given her incentive to go to the mortal world."  
"Loki, so help me," Thor said, clenching his hands. "I have tried to be patient, but-"

"I said accidently, you moron," Loki hissed. "Did you forget once again that I have absolutely no choice but to answer truthfully when asked something? I told you that she interrogated me. I did not _mean_ to tell her."  
"What did you tell her?" Odin demanded.

"Well... Many things," Loki said. "Must I relay all of the things I told her, or only the important things?"  
"Only the important things," Odin told him.  
"Good..." Loki trailed off, considering. "What classifies as important?"  
"Loki," Odin sighed. "I do not care what you tell me and what you leave out! Why would she go to Midgard?"  
"Oh, well I told her that Thor had people in Midgard that he cared for," Loki answered, frowning. "She seemed most interested in Jane Foster, but with SHIELD hiding her I doubt that-"  
"Wait, wait," Thor protested. "What about Jane? Why would she be interested in Jane?"  
"I told her that you were in love with Jane Dearest," Loki informed him. "And she didn't seem too pleased about it. You see, she is obsessed with you."  
"Obsessed with..." Thor fumbled for words. "The... She's..."  
"Yes," Loki nodded. "I told her that it would never happen and she became rather angry."  
"Amora is obsessed with Thor?" Frigga asked.

"Yes," Loki said again. "I believe she convinced herself that she loved him, and that he would love her back. That is why I believe that she will either be here, or in Midgard. Because she was determined to either convince him to love her, or make him."  
"And what did you say to that?" Odin asked curiously.

"I told her that she could never have him," Loki said, looking frustrated. "And that he would never love her. And that if she touched him... If she touched him I would kill her."

"Thank you for explaining that to her, Brother," Thor said with a smile.

"Stop calling me that," Loki snapped at him.

"Does this change anything of your plans to go to Midgard?" Frigga asked worriedly.

"Well..." Thor bit his lip, thinking. "I think... I think we should still go."  
"What?" Loki said, surprised. "That is incredibly stupid! Why?"  
"Because," Thor said. "It would still be easier to protect you in Midgard. There is no concealing your return from the people of Asgard, but hardly anyone needs to know that you will be in Midgard. And there are five others in Midgard that we can convince to help us, especially if Amora intends to threaten earth. Whereas here in Asgard, I am sorry to say that few would be... willing to..."

"Yes, yes," Loki waved an airy hand. "But I do not need protecting! I am perfectly capable of fighting Amora without the aid of you and your so called Avengers."

"And you showed that last night," Thor snapped, losing patience. "When you were bleeding and so tired you could hardly stand properly!"  
"Only because I wasted my reserves fighting this _stupid, horrendous, CURSE!_" Loki shouted, throwing his hands in the air.

"Wait," Frigga cut in suddenly. "Thor, you told us he wasn't hurt!"  
"I said he was tired," Thor defended himself. "And that he had minor injuries."  
"Yes, but you never said he could barely stand," Frigga said.  
"Stop it!" Loki shouted, looking absolutly furious. "You know what? Fine! Whatever, we'll go to Midgard! I just do not care anymore! But I will not have you all standing around talking like I am... Some-some sort of weak... child!"  
"Loki, I did not mean-" Frigga started.

"Brother, I never said-" Thor also began to protest.  
"But of course, what else would I be?" Loki exclaimed, starting to pace again. "After all, I am a Frost Giant. They are all weak cowards and I have never been considered anything but a... a disloyal... monstrous..."

"Stop putting words in our mouths," Frigga said shortly.

"You have all said it," Loki shouted. "We all know what they are, I grew up hearing about how horrible they are, and Thor has always said that he. Will. _Kill_. Them. Now if that isn't practically saying they are all monsters then I don't know what is!"

"Loki, that was before I knew you were one of them," Thor exclaimed desperately.

"Oh, so me being... one of them," Loki spit the words bitterly. "It changes everything? It changes their very nature? If one of them walked right through the doors right now, you would level your weapons at it, and kill it before it had the chance to say anything. Your opinion hasn't changed."  
"You are wrong, Loki," Thor tried again.

"No," Loki said, much quieter then before. He put his hand over his eyes. "No, I am not doing this again! I refuse to discuss any of this. If we are going to Midgard, let us go and get this over with. And if we are to stay... Please, allow me to go to my quarters and I will stay there and... cause no mischief and-and perform no magic, just as long as I am left alone."  
Thor and Frigga both made to protest, but Odin held up a hand to silence them, staring at Loki strangely.

"Very well, my son," He said levelly. "I will respect your silence. You and Thor will still go to Midgard, if that suits you."  
"I care not," Loki muttered tiredly without removing his hand from over his eyes.

"Alright," Odin said with a nod before turning to Thor. "Good luck." He drew Thor aside and lowered his voice. "Look out for him."  
"I will, Father," Thor swore.

"Loki," Frigga said, walking closer to Loki. "Son, I love you."  
"Spare me," Loki scoffed, rolling his eyes. "You know you risk burns every time you touch me, right?"  
Frigga stuttered uncertainly and Loki smirked at her and then moved closer to Thor like he was ready to use him as a shield if Frigga tried to go in for a hug.

Thor struggled to lock his eyes on his brother, as Loki was practically behind him and looking at the wall stubbornly. Thor gave up and turned to Frigga, who was looking at Loki distraughtly.

"Well, Mother," Thor sighed. "I suppose we are to leave you once again."  
"Haste your return," Frigga said sadly. "And may the Norns bless your path. Both of you."  
"A little too late for that," Loki said with a bitter smile.  
"Loki," Thor sighed. "Would you stop being difficult about everything?"  
"Honestly?" Loki said, raising an ironic eyebrow. "Most likely not. Being difficult is something at which I excel greatly. Now let's go." Thor sighed.

"Fine, if that is how you are going to be," He said.

"It is," Loki agreed with a nod.  
Thor rolled his eyes, nodded once more to his father and mother, and then opened the large oak door.

The two boys who had been in the Entrance Hall before were standing nearby, the horses tied to a tree branch. Both of the boys stood and bowed in respect.

"Princes," The boy who looked to be the oldest of the two said. "Your horses await."  
"Why do you address me as Prince?" Loki inquired curiously.

The boys glanced at each other in confusion.  
"Because... You are not the king?" The youngest boy said uncertainly. "The Allfather reclaimed the title when he awoke, did he not?"  
"Yes," Loki answered.

"Aye, that he did," Thor nodded to the children with a smile. "What are your names, young horse masters?"  
"Beiner Ingason, Sire," The youngest boy said.

"And I am Grimolfur," The older boy said. "The fourth son of Aoalstein, my Prince."

"Well," Thor said. "You have shown more loyalty this day then most men of the court. May the Norns bless you."  
The boys smiled and then bowed to both Thor and Loki and then ran off.

"They are poor, innocent fools," Loki said, watching the children leave with an almost wistful expression on his face.  
"I do not think so," Thor disagreed thoughtfully. "In fact, They are some of the only people in the whole castle who have not lost all of my respect in this last day."  
"Well that is because _you_ are a poor, innocent fool," Loki said, rolling his eyes. "And I pity you for that."  
"What you call foolishness, I call trust," Thor said.

Loki sighed and mounted his horse. "That is frightfully dull," He said wearily. "But I am through trying to make you see sense!"  
"Good," Thor smiled as he mounted his own steed, noticing that Loki had chosen the black horse, and he the white, without thought. "Because I will never be through trying to make _you_ see sense."

They had tried to disband. Really, they had.

They had even made it public. The Avengers were a team, but that didn't make them family; they all had their separate lives and goals, and they all had their means of doing them.

The next time that the earth required their assistance, the Avengers would band back up and exchange pleasantries before slipping into a non antagonistic, but only slightly friendly group before departing once again with slightly dispassionate salutes or nods. If they were feeling particularly comrade-y they might even bro hug before never seeing each other for the next year or two.

This was how it was supposed to go.  
Tony was supposed to get an occasional nervous visit from Bruce and a stumbled call (voicemail) from Steve and that would be it. Perhaps Natasha would spring unexpectedly into his life for a few seconds like Nick Fury, or Coulson before her, but even the chances of that happening were slim at best.  
But that wasn't exactly how things worked.

And two weeks found the whole team minus one back at StarkTower, completely, accidently, becoming a major part of Tony's life.

He woke up every day to Bruce either rapping quietly at his bedroom door or pulling him up from the ground where he had slept. Having both stayed up most the night to perfect some plans.  
Then, he and Bruce would eat the breakfast that Steve made before they went down to the training grounds together, where Natasha and Clint had been for at least the last two hours. Tony would promptly turn on AC/DC and proceed to put on his suit, and they would do drills and demolish the practice targets and perfect fighting as a team until Pepper came home from work.

She would always scold them for missing lunch, and for missing other unimportant things, before presenting them with the take-out she had brought, ignore a call she was getting, and go upstairs with the food.

They would all change out of their work clothes, except Tony who wore the suit, and Bruce who didn't practice with them, obviously. The two would instead become immersed in some scientific discussion or in a random and insignificant (yet incredibly meaningful) conversation.

Pepper would come and join them, and then the others would come and they would break into the food. After a while, Pepper would get a phone call that she couldn't ignore and she would sigh and say that she had to go before kissing Tony on the cheek and leaving with the warning that they had better eat. Popcorn sort of classified as eating.

So then the Avengers – trained spies, geniuses, or super soldiers; the extraordinary people that shouldn't do _anything_ normally – would all sit and watch a movie as if it was the most natural thing they'd ever done.

And then Tony would either stumble tiredly to bed with an uncontrollable grin on his face, or he would walk happily with Bruce down to the labs, where they would work for several hours on whatever project they wanted until one of them fell asleep.

If Bruce dropped first, Tony would lower him to the floor and keep working for a while on something quiet, throwing his friend the occasional smile.

If Tony dropped first, he would wake the next morning fairly rested, with a blanket thrown over him and Bruce's jacket under his head like a make shift pillow.

In those times, Tony would always hand Bruce back his jacket, and Bruce would blush and smile, leaving Tony feeling warm and touched and trying not to grin in response.

Tony had never felt quite as happy or content as he felt with the team staying in the Tower.

He would never really lose his protective shields, just like he would never truly trust Natasha, and he would never truly look at Steve without feeling just a bit bitter, but Tony had never smiled so much in his whole life.

The team was the closest thing Tony had to family, even when they most certainly weren't a family and not even friends, really (next question! Hopefully one that's not... quite so... stupid. Um...). And now he really felt as though they were... if not a family, then close friends who lived in the same house and argued a lot.  
There was only one thing that made the Avengers incomplete.

And that was, of course, an Avenger.

It wasn't as if Tony had made any sort of connection to Thor. They barely had contact outside of that one fight and a few quips. Tony had more of a connection with _Loki_ then with Thor.

But still, Tony liked the big guy okay, and he was a part of the team as well. He should be in on the movie nights, even though Tony was practically getting a headache just thinking about trying to explain the technology to the demigod.

Thor might be hard to get along with, being all Shakespearian and caped and calling Tony 'Man of Iron', but it wasn't like Steve was that easy to get along with, or Natasha, or even Clint.

It had only been two weeks, so Tony wasn't surprised that there had been no contact from Asgard or visits from Thor, but he still wondered how things were going, and when Thor would move into his Tower.

He already had the room ready.

"Hey," Tony said on the fourteenth day, the two week marker. "What do you guys think Thor is doing?"  
They were all getting ready to put in a movie, Clint walking in with the popcorn while Steve tried to open the DVD cover for the Phantom of the Opera, frustrated.  
"Mm," Natasha hummed as she took the cover from Steve, opening it with ease. "Most likely over seeing things with Loki."  
"Hey," Clint protested. "Let's not talk about Loki, okay? I'm getting enough of that from the press."  
"How did you...?" Steve trailed off, staring at Natasha in wonder.

"It was the latch," Natasha told him, shrugging her shoulders. "Sometimes they would put little latches on the DVD casings to make it harder for people to steal them."  
"I always thought that was stupid," Tony said thoughtfully. "I could've stolen it anyway."  
"Yes, me too," Natasha agreed.

"Yeah, but I guess they were trying to slow down like... kids," Clint said, plopping down on the couch and handing Tony some popcorn. "Teenagers and people like that."  
"Yeah, I guess so," Tony said. "But still, I always thought that-"

Suddenly, a giant blast of color seemed to fill the room, and while the Avengers drew their respective weapons, the light faded away to reveal Thor, wearing a red tunic under a brown leather vest, and brown leather pants tucked into big buckled boots.

Just behind Thor, Loki smirked at them, wearing a simple long sleeved green shirt and black leather pants, tucked into big boots of his own.

He looked sick with how pale he was, and it was only emphasized by the fact that he looked like he hadn't slept in a very long time.

They all got ready to fire their weapons, except Bruce who had his head in his hands, and Tony who didn't have a weapon to fire. Before they had the chance to do anything, however, Thor pulled Loki behind him and held up his hands playactingly.

"My friends," He said calmly. "I would urge you to lay aside your weapon, for Loki is under my protection and-"

"For heavens sake, Thor," Loki said, pushing his brother away roughly. "I told you before, I do not need you protecting me!"  
Natasha dropped her gun, but pushed Loki to the wall and pressed her knife into his throat. Loki offered no resistance and Tony frowned. Shouldn't he be fighting her?

"Are you sure you don't need his protection?" Natasha inquired sarcastically.

"Fairly certain, yes," Loki answered, quirking an eyebrow. "You are looking as lovely as ever."  
"And you look like dirt," Natasha responded.

"Agent Romanoff," Thor tried to interrupt, biting his lip anxiously.

"It's been a while," Natasha continued bantering, ignoring Thor. "It took you longer then I expected to break out of prison."  
"Agent Romanoff, he didn't-" Thor tried again.

"Did you miss me?" Loki cut Thor off, smirking.  
"I've been coping," Natasha rolled her eyes and pressed the knife further into Loki's skin A small drop of blood trailed down his neck and he licked his lips.

"Is this love, Agent Romanoff?" He asked with a smirk, like he and Natasha were sharing a joke.  
"Love is for children," Natasha said levelly. She smiled ironically. "I just want to kill you."  
"By all means," Loki said, gesturing to himself as if to say 'fire away'. "Amaze me."  
"Loki, stop it," Thor cut in sternly. "Lady Natasha, kindly remove your knife from my brother's throat."

"Hey, Blondie," Tony said, turning to Thor. "Not to interrupt, but what the heck is your terrorist brother doing in me living room?!" And why wasn't he trying anything?  
"Well, you see Man of Iron," Thor said. "My brother is in danger, I took him here to protect him."  
Everyone blinked at him for a second, and then they turned to Loki, who rolled his eyes.

"What have you done to Thor?" Steve demanded.

"Please clarify," Loki said, turning his head slightly to the side and not even wincing when Natasha's knife pressed still farther into his skin. "Do you mean as a whole, recently, or just in this circumstance?"  
"I believe he means in this circumstance, Brother," Thor said. "Lady Natasha, _please_ stop threatening Loki or I will be forced to fight you."  
"Then technically I didn't do anything," Loki said, turning to Steve as Natasha finally let up. He rubbed a hand over his throat, but otherwise didn't comment, the scar on his throat already fading. "Unless you count... I did shove him, I suppose. But that is about it unless you are referring to insults. If that is the case then I insulted him repeatedly."  
"What are you going on about?" Clint hissed.

"Well, Captain Rogers asked me what I did to Thor," Loki explained. "And so I told him that-"

"Shut up," Natasha snapped.  
"Hey, Rudolf," Tony cut in, looking at Loki suspiciously and trying to place things. "What's with the cooperation?"  
"Simple," Loki said. "There's not much to fight for. Plus, I am sort of hoping you'll kill me, though it is doubtful."  
"You what?!" Thor demanded.

"I was hoping they'd kill me," Loki said again calmly. "Come on Thor, this should stop surprising you, you know I want to die."

"You know, we're all for that," Tony said. "But, unfortunately, none of us are technically allowed to kill you in cold blood so, uh... That's a bummer, I know. Question:"  
"Is there any way that you _won't_ ask the question?" Loki interrupted.

"Mm, nah," Tony said thoughtfully. "Sorry, I used up my compliance for today."  
"That's regretful," Loki said thoughtfully. "What did you use it on?"  
"Well, you see, Cap..." Tony trailed off and then grinned. "You sly super-villain, I almost fell for that. But I didn't, so, my question is... What are you doing here?"  
"Thor thought that coming here would solve our problems," Loki told him. "Though I have no idea why. I told him that it was a bad idea."  
"It is not a bad idea, Loki," Thor huffed. "If only you would stop playing the villain!"  
"But I'm _so_ good at it," Loki said with a smirk.

"Wait," Natasha cut in, glaring at Loki murderously before turning to Thor. "What is going on?"  
Thor opened his mouth and then paused, looking at Loki as if waiting for him to speak.

"She asked you, not me," Loki said. "Go ahead and explain, for I will not."  
"What's that about?" Tony cut in.

"Well Stark," Loki said with a sigh. "He was waiting for me to answer the question, but because it was not directed at me, I believe that I am free to ignore it and remain silent."  
"What?" Clint demanded, he still had an arrow trained on Loki, but the Trickster didn't seem too worried about it, he seemed more annoyed.  
"I said," Loki started again. "'Well Stark, he was waiting for me to-"

"I know that," Clint scoffed. "I mean-"

"Please, Friends," Thor interrupted, holding up his hands to silence everyone. "Cease with the questions. We have had a long day and these words are pointless."  
"I beg to differ," Tony said. "Actually, I won't beg, and I have no idea what 'differ' means."  
"It means to disagree with someone," Loki spoke up. "So you used it correctly."  
"That's good to know," Tony blinked at Loki in bewilderment, trying to figure him out. "Really, I needed to know that. It... That's gonna be important someday and, uh, I'm gonna thank you... At that time."  
"Stark," Steve cut in. "We don't have time for this." He turned to Thor. "Why are you here again?"  
"It is a rather long story," Thor said. "You see, when I returned Loki to Asgard I believed, like you, that he would be imprisoned. However, my father decided that something less conventional would be more effective. In that light, he ordered a sorceress to place a spell on Loki, one that can only be removed by the castor of said spell or in the circumstance that the accursed learns his lesson."

"So... what's the curse?" Bruce spoke up. He seemed to have everything under control, but he wouldn't look at Loki, so Tony assumed the Hulk was near the surface.  
"My father removed Loki's ability to lie," Thor told them. "Or to fail to answer a question asked of him."  
"That explains it," Tony said. "I was wondering why he was answering us. But what's with the calm?"  
"Excuse me?" Thor asked, looking confused.

"Lokes," Tony said simply. "Look at him."  
"Don't call me that," Loki spoke up while everyone turned to stare at him. He seemed confidant and at ease, but Tony noticed him shift a bit like he was getting ready to run, his muscles tensing.

"He looks sick," Steve said thoughtfully. "Was that what you wanted us to see, Stark?"  
"That is ridiculous," Tony said, rolling his eyes. "I meant, look at how calm he is. Does that seem like a crazy bag of cats about to take over the world to you?"  
"I am known to be a talented actor, Stark," Loki said with a smirk.

"Yeah, but if you were acting you wouldn't tell me you were acting," Tony pointed out.

"Or maybe he's telling you because he knows you won't believe him," Natasha suggested.

"Look, he's not Jack Sparrow," Tony sighed. "He doesn't work that way. He's... this big show diva who wants it all and wants it now. If he was going to do something, then he would tell me, he'd advertize. But that's not the point. The point is, it's been two weeks, and he's... Calmer. Easier."  
"How would you know I am not still insane?" Loki asked, quirking a dark eyebrow.

"Are you insane?" Tony asked smugly.

"... No," Loki answered, and then he paused, tugging at a piece of his hair. "Well... I suppose I am a little insane. But it is more the after effects of madness then the actual thing itself."  
"See?" Tony said, gesturing to Loki.

"Okay, wait," Steve said, holding up his hands. "So, he can't lie. Okay. What's the problem? Why does he need protection?"  
"The sorceress who was chosen to cast the spell," Thor told them. "Her name is Amora the Enchantress, the daughter of Freya."  
"The bird cloak lady?" Tony asked.

"Aye, that is she," Thor supplied. "Before yesterday, I had never met Amora. But she cast Loki's spell, so I conversed with her for no more then a minute and the Allfather told me that she was trustworthy. However, later that same night when the curse was cast, the Enchantress crept into my brother's room as he rested, thinking to misuse the spell. She placed a spell on Loki that he could not easily fight due to a shortness of magic and interrogated him."  
"What spell?" Steve asked.

"Er... I know not," Thor said. "Loki?"  
"It is a rather advanced spell," Loki supplied. "That takes several years to thoroughly memorize. A spell to physically bind someone that is called Hvarf keðjur, or Vanished Chains in the common tongue."

"So what happened next?" Clint asked, lowering his bow slightly.

"To make a long story short," Thor started. "Loki broke the spell, they fought, and Amora vanished when it appeared as though she might lose. Because we feared that she may return to misuse the curse, and because of the general animosity towards Loki, my father and I decided that it would be for the best to come here to Midgard."  
"Why isn't he put in jail?" Clint demanded.

"Punishments in Asgard are odd, Archer," Thor said regretfully. "Sometimes, like with me, the court decrees the matter resolved within a short span of time. However, with so many in the court against Loki, a full trial would end in torture or otherwise immediate death."  
"Good," Clint and Natasha both said at once.  
"No," Thor said with a glare. "That is not 'good'. You see, no Prince of Asgard has ever been given such a sentence, and my father did not want such things for his son. In this way, he created the idea of a truth spell. Loki's... reaction... proved to the courtiers that it was enough punishment, but the curse can be broken."  
"How?" Steve asked.

"In a way, it has been left up to Loki," Thor said. "When the time comes that he no longer hides behind his lies, when he can go without them, then the curse shall be broken."  
"This is like some bizarre fairy tale," Tony said. "I think I need a drink."

"Agreed," Clint said, still glaring.

"Why don't we all sit down?" Steve suggested levelly. "And then we can talk about this calmly."  
Everyone sat down in the various chairs, situated around a fire place. Except for Loki, who leaned wearily against the wall, and Clint, who looked ready to raise his bow again and wasn't taking his eyes off of Loki.

"Hey Reindeer Games," Tony called from his spinney brown chair. "You gonna sit?"  
Loki jumped a little, looking surprised. "I don't know," He said, sounding confused. "I... The offer was extended to me?"  
"Yeah," Tony rolled his eyes. "Just don't try anything, this furniture was more money than the metal for the Tower."

Loki cautiously walked to the small couch where Thor was sitting and sat next to him, looking at the others as if not sure what to think of any of them. Thor beamed at him before turning back to the others.

"Alright," He said. "Let us discuss things. Loki and I are in need of lodging."

* * *

_So I hope you liked it. Lot's of heartache went into this chapter, though not really. That was a joke. Anyway, I don't have anything for the next chapter, so I can't give you guys a little 'what to look forward to' thingy. But still, follow, favorite, review. And, as always, watch those updates. You never know when I'll be struck with a random burst of inspiration. Probably, it'll happen while I'm listening to Owl City or the Doctor Who series four official TV soundtrack. A Dazzling End, anyone?_

_Side note, did you guys see that video with Tom Hiddleston and Cookie Monster? I'm still geeking out about it. If you haven't seen it then you definitely should. It confirms my believe that Tom Hiddleston can't do anything without making it adorable._

_Another side note, Loki and Natasha flirt a little bit in this chapter. But it's not BlackFrost (remember the earlier statement of 'no pairings safe small bits of Pepperony?') Loki's just the type to flirt a bit while Natasha's the type to go along with it. It's purely platonic. They're both way too sly and secretive to ever be with each other, and even though it's not in this story, I always ship Clintasha._

_Jo~_


	6. Potts and Pans

_Okay, real fast, I just want to say... AUUGHHH! I swear I started this chapter about five or six times, and ended up backspacing everything. Ever. Finally, I've figured out something I think is halfway decent, and I realized that it's been forever since my last update. I apologize for that (not that I can promise it won't happen again), and I really have no other excuses other than the fact that this chapter was the worst to try and write._

_So, just a brief heads up on the fact that it may be kind of rubbish. I'm still not sure of it at all, but I thought I'd post this chapter anyway. get it out of the way, and move on. Because I'm already starting to write for the next chapter. Bear with me guys. By the way, I love you guys's reviews and such. They never fail to make me smile._

_Disclaimer: I do not happen to own Marvel or anything that classifies as 'in it'. The only thing that belongs me to me, is the storyline. And even that isn't copyrighted._

_Anyways... Yeah. Jo~_

* * *

As it happened, Stark was very compliant. When Thor bluntly stated that they were in need of lodging, he hardly batted an eyelash before stating that Thor's room had been prepared for a week and was fully furnished, with replicas of each item in case any 'accidents' happened with Thor's lightning and, in the words of Stark, 'liking for smashing things that almost rivals the Hulk'.

And when it was brought up by Thor that Loki did not have a prepared room, Stark waved an airy hand and assigned Loki a 'spare lounge' on floor seventy two, which was somewhat close to the top of the Tower.

He assured Thor that he needn't worry about SHIELD, as he was more than capable of keeping his own dirty little secrets. While that earned glares from the Good Captain and Romanoff, Loki nearly smirked.

And he actually quite liked the lounge that was to be his living quarters for now. The room was homely, colored in warm browns and reds and actually somewhat small, but not small enough to make Loki feel like he was in a cell. There was a large bookshelf full of hardback volumes, a couch and two armchairs situated around a table and a stone fireplace, and a window seat with thick curtains that could offer complete seclusion if Loki were to sit and read.

It was nothing like Asgard. And Loki loved it for that.

Loki was tired so, as soon as Stark shut up long enough for him to manage a dismissal that was not rude, he practically fell on the couch, having to force his fingers to unbuckle his heavy boots.

He should've known he wouldn't be able to sleep.

For one, it was raining. Loki felt distinctly annoyed at Thor, even though he was well aware of the fact that his brother probably had nothing to do with it, because the sound of the rain against the window was really irritating him.

And for another, he couldn't shut off his brain. It kept running ahead, trying to work through obstacles and review conversations, imagining what he could have said and what he could have done. Going through everything he knew about the Avengers, including Thor, and trying to shape some sort of plan. Even though he had already decided to just ride this one out and not _do_ anything about it.

And for yet another thing, the room was dark. And as childish as it was, Loki hated the dark. It reminded him of the empty void of space, and of the darkness of his little cell in the Chitauri Homeworld. Dark meant cold and alone.

Still, Loki tried to sleep. Telling himself he had to stop thinking and then ending up thinking about not thinking. He tried to close his eyes against the dark only to realize that that made everything even more dark.

Eventually, he gave up on attempting to rest, strapped his boots back in place, and left his lounge.

It occurred to him that he might not be allowed to roam the Tower, but Loki really couldn't care less for the moment. Honestly, he was thirsty. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had water.

Oh wait, he could. It was only two days before coming to Midgard that the Chitauri gave him some non poisoned water to make him nice and strong for a world takeover attempt, along with a small bit of bread. Stupid curse.

Loki crept silently down the corridor, coming upon the double doors that led to the small room he had ridden up earlier to get to this floor.

An elevator. Loki had done enough research on Earth for him to know small snippets of how that worked, and he was certain that the ceiling – JARVIS, or something like that – could talk him through operating it.  
But just thinking about the voice in the ceiling that seemed to know everything made Loki's head hurt, so he turned from the elevator and walked on until he reached a set of stairs.

Normal enough. He walked for around ten minutes until he came across a kitchen space, wide and ridiculously lavish with several silver electronics and bluish lighting. The entire side wall was nothing but one huge window, overlooking New York.  
And standing near it was none other than Anthony Stark, a glass of what looked like liquor in his hand and a brooding expression on his face.

He hadn't seemed to notice Loki's entrance, and the god paused, wondering if he should just leave. But he _was_ rather thirsty...  
With his mind made up, Loki cleared his throat to announce his presence so that he did not frighten the inventor.  
Not Loki's best plan. Stark jumped three feet in the air and raised his hands as if he was going to fire his repulser beams, having apparently forgotten he wasn't in his metal suit.  
Loki raised his hands in surrender, containing his smirk with some effort and morphing his face into a contrite, innocent expression.

"Sorry," He said with the barest hint of sarcasm. "It was not my intention to frighten you."  
"What are you doing?" Stark snapped tiredly, taking a long suffering sip of his ale.  
"I could not fall into slumber," Loki admitted, wrinkling his nose at the liquor. "And thought I might indulge in a glass of water. Is that not alright?"  
"No, it's fine," Stark looked confused at his question. "Why wouldn't it be?"  
"I do not know," Loki shrugged. He poured himself a glass of water and took a long drink, turning and joining Stark at the window.

"Do you want some wine or something?" Stark asked after a moment of silence.

"No," Loki answered swiftly, wincing slightly in distaste. "But thank you for the offer. I would prefer water."  
Stark inspected him and then grinned. "You don't like wine," He commented.

"No, I do not," Loki answered stiffly.  
"I'm guessing there's a story behind that," Stark quirked an eyebrow in Loki's direction, obviously waiting for an answer.

Loki felt oddly grateful that he hadn't asked out right. He actually had a choice over whether or not he wanted to answer. This alone made Loki want to refuse giving up any information, just because he could. But than again, Stark was being kind.

Which was... odd, to say the least. New.

"I... do not have very good experiences with alcohol," Loki answered hesitantly. "Thor likes - Well, liked - to get intoxicated on the weekends, which was never very fun. And people who are intoxicated tend to take less notice of the fact that you are a prince, and more notice of the fact that they can... What do you mortals say? Take you?"  
"You got beat up?" Stark asked doubtfully.

"Yes," Loki said, drinking his water thoughtfully. "Looking back, it was never that much of a big deal, but in the time it simply served to further my disliking of the horrid drink."

"Interesting," Stark mused. "And, isn't it like, really hard for you guys to get drunk? You and Thor?"  
"On Midgard, yes," Loki said thoughtfully. "I have heard that your ales are extremely weak compared to that of Asgard. At one of our feasts, a casket would probably get you good and intoxicated."  
"Dude," Stark said, frowning. "So you've never gotten drunk. Man, that must be torturous."  
"No, you misunderstand me," Loki protested with a grimace. "I have gotten drunk, but only once. And never again."  
"That bad?" Stark said with a small chuckle, as if imagining Loki intoxicated.

"Yes," Loki agreed. "Or at least, Thor has told me so. I have never been able to recall it myself. All I know of it, is that I woke up in the Healing Rooms, my head pounding, my back torn to shreds, and my energy sorely depleted."  
"Ouch," Stark said, actually looking somewhat sympathetic. "I've had some pretty memorable hangovers, but... your back was torn to shreds?"  
"Mm," Loki said disinterestedly, swishing his water around in his cup. "From a whipping. I have had worse, but not knowing where it came from was somewhat disarming."  
"No kidding," Stark said. "What did you do?"  
"I am told that I challenged the greatest mage of the time to a battle," Loki relayed matter-of-factly. "And then I proceeded to insult everyone at a party I was not supposed to be attending. And yes, I insulted _everyone_. Some of them," He started to chuckle a bit. "Were fairly creative. I wish I remembered the look on their faces."  
Stark began to chuckle a bit too. And than he seemed to remember who he was laughing with and frowned, turning back to the window.

Loki felt foolish and took a long drink of water to disguise his light blush. Of course Stark wouldn't want to speak to him. Laugh with him. That was obvious and completely natural, so why did Loki insist on being hurt?

"What are you playing at?" Stark said suddenly, breaking the silence again and turning to glare at Loki.

Loki blinked in surprise, trying to find a suitable answer. "Stark, I am not sure as to what you are referring," He admitted after a brief moment. "Please clarify."  
"Clarify?" Stark repeated. "Okay then. News flash, you're not supposed to be this way, is what I'm saying. See, you, my friend, are supposed to be this insane remorseless jerk. And two weeks ago, that's exactly what you were. And now you show up with Thor on your side, saying that you've been cursed and need shelter because everyone in your golden world kind of hates your guts, and you're... different, to say the least."  
Loki couldn't exactly correct these statements, and he felt a growing sense of panic at where this was leading. But all he did was take another drink of water and gesture for Stark to go on.

"No, see, there it is again," Stark groaned. "What is wrong with you?"  
"Several things," Loki answered automatically. "For one-"  
"Stop," Stark said, holding up a hand. "You know, people don't just... change."  
Loki quirked an eyebrow at Stark, but when the inventor didn't say anything, he laughed lightly. "You would be surprised, Stark," He said.  
"Okay, maybe some people," Stark shrugged his shoulders. "Those annoying perfect people who change within the span of a few hours and you're sitting there like 'really? You call that character development?'. But not a lot of people are like that. And _you're_ definitely not like that."

Loki couldn't exactly correct that either, as he really wasn't like those people. Thorish people. "I suppose I see your point," He said thoughtfully.  
"Yeah, so what happened?" Stark demanded.  
"Excuse me?" Loki asked, bewildered once again.

"Oh for the love of..." Stark rolled his eyes at the ceiling and took a deep drink before looking back at Loki. "You are different," He said slowly. "Different from how you were about two weeks ago when you invaded. I want to know what happened that caused this, uh... change thingy that's got you being all normalish.

"Oh," Loki said, pursing his lips in thought. "My head was simply set straight, I suppose. I... the things I did were... born out of madness." He was picking his words carefully, so that he wasn't lying, but could still avoid the truth. "I was not thinking clearly, and when it became clear to me, I simply... stopped."  
"Stopped?" Stark repeated, looking doubtful.

"Yes, stopped," Loki said again. "It was all very-"

"You can just stop right there," Stark interrupted. "Because, uh... I'm not buying this. You didn't just have a change of heart. What? In the middle of a battle, you were just like 'wait, what am I doing? Schizophrenia rearing it's ugly head again, better put an end to this'?"  
"No," Loki said, shocked that someone was actually calling him out.

"No," Stark agreed. "Because that... Is like, really stupid. No one gave you an Oreo, that's not how things went down. You're probably feeding me morphed half truths, and, uh, you think I'm just gonna accept them."

Loki stared, his mouth half open in shock. No one ever really questioned him before when he manipulated facts, and now he wasn't really sure what to say. Where to go from here.  
"Listen," Stark continued. "I just want to figure this out. I don't... actually, I _hate_ not knowing things and you're, um, pretty hard to figure out, Lokes."  
"Do not call me that," Loki muttered absently, looking away from Stark to stare out at the city below, still unsure of what to say.  
"Just..." Stark hesitated and took another drink of liquor. "Can you just tell me that this whole thing here," he gestures to Loki, who narrowed his eyes and tilted his head in confusion. "This change, whatever the heck it is, isn't some act?"  
"I can," Loki answered.

"Well, good, but I'm not finished yet," Stark frowned. "If I had some assurance that you're not... Going to kill us in the middle of the night or something as well, that would be really helpful. Because, forgive me if I'm not, like, believing you're some totally new man for no reason whatsoever."  
"If you believed that, Stark, I would think you a fool," Loki told him. "Honestly, I have no present plans to cause you or any of your shield brothers and sister any misfortune, and nor do I imagine receiving them. I care little for Midgard as a whole, though your literature and means of living is most fascinating."  
Stark nodded thoughtfully and drank the last of his amber liquid. "Okay than," He said, and then frowned. "Wait, if you don't even care for Earth, why were you trying to conquer it?"  
"I was not," Loki answered truthfully, smirking at the surprise on Stark's face.  
"Than what the heck was that whole thing with the army?!" Stark demanded in shock.  
Loki considered the question carefully. "Gambling," He said thoughtfully, turning and walking back to the sink to pour himself more water.  
"You know, I'm really getting tired of those half answers," Stark huffed.

"Oh?" Loki inquired sarcastically, pushing himself up onto the counter and smirking at the genius. "I am ever so sorry to hear that. You see, I do not enjoy being forced into anything."  
"Yeah, I kinda got that," Stark rolled his eyes, walking up to the table and sitting on top of it. He slipped his wrists into small metal bands slowly, as if trying to make it escape notice. "Must be difficult for you then, to be here."  
"Not as hard as it could be," Loki said, pursing his lips and standing. He placed his cup in the sink and stared at it for a few minutes before deciding that he would wash it later. "Goodnight, Stark," He called as he began walking back to the stairs.  
"Hey," Stark said. Loki stilled and turned to the genius, who was nursing a new cup of scotch. "Do you even know the way to the lounge yet?"  
"No, but I will find it," Loki said.

"JARVIS," Stark called to the ceiling. "Can you direct Lokes here to his room?"  
_"Certainly, Sir,"_ The smooth voice of the AI chimed. _"Down the corridor, up three flights of stairs, down the hall, third door on the left, Mr. Odinson."_  
This time, Loki actually did flinch. "Please do not address me as such, computer," He said.  
_"Would you prefer Mr. Laufeyson?"_ JARVIS inquired.

"No," Loki said, fairly sure he was turning pale at that question. "Can you not just call me Loki?"  
_"Sir... Loki?"_ JARVIS sounded like he was trying the name out. _"I suppose that is acceptable."  
_"You have my gratitude, computer," Loki said.

_"You could just call me JARVIS,"_ The computer said, sounding slightly offended. _"Computer is not exactly the proper term for a sentient being."_  
"Certainly, Sir JARVIS," Loki blinked at the ceiling, startled at it's snark.

He turned to Stark and the billionaire laughed. "JARVIS," He said. "He runs the house."  
"Yes I know," Loki told him with a small frown. "However, I was not aware that it – that he," he cast an almost nervous glance at the ceiling, waiting for it to correct him. "was capable of conscious thought."  
"Yeah, well," Stark looked pleased with himself. "Science, and all that. All very new for you, probably. Considering you're from, like, the dark ages, or something."  
"I understand science," Loki said with a huff. "Just because I am not used to your culture doesn't make me such a simpleton that I cannot comprehend basic concepts. And I would take pleasure in you trying to understand my magic."  
"Magic is like science," Stark said airily. "And I'm sure I could understand it, with the opportunity to properly, like, study it and everything."  
"Certainly," Loki snorted. "Have a good night, Stark."  
"Yeah," Stark blinked at him, looking bewildered, awkward, and surprised all at once. "Sure. Uh... You too?"  
Loki bit back a smile at the conversation as a whole and bowed his head before leaving the room. He didn't think he would end up sleeping tonight, and probably for the next few besides, but he felt just slightly more welcome.  
He thought he might come to like Anthony Stark.

* * *

_"Sir, Miss Potts has arrived and is heading to the kitchen,"_ JARVIS informed Tony, who rolled his eyes from underneath his Acura NSX as he worked on it, ignoring the AI.

Pepper came by every day, being a little early was hardly a problem, all things considered. And why JARVIS felt he had to tell him where Pepper was headed was beyond him.  
_"Sir,"_ JARVIS persisted.

"What?" Tony snapped, pushing himself out from under his car and glaring. "This better be important."  
_"I wouldn't want to waste your time,"_ JARVIS snarked. _"But Sir Loki is currently in the very same kitchen."  
_Tony's eyes widened and he jumped to his feet.

He hadn't thought to warn Pepper! She would come into the kitchen and there would be the insane psycho freak who broke New York sitting in it without explanation. And she might ask him questions. Or pepper-spray him.  
Tony bit back a chuckle at the idea of Loki getting mace in the face, but he ran to intercept Pepper anyway, give her just the slightest bit advanced notice.  
But he was too late. When Tony swung open the door to his kitchen, Pepper – in her high heels and business suit– was frantically throwing things in the direction of Loki. For his part, Loki wasn't trying to stop her or anything, in fact, he was simply dodging carefully, and talking away as he did so.

"-Pleasure is all..." He said, pausing to duck. "Mine, I'm sure... Heard a lot... about you."

Loki dodged a flying fruit bowl that shattered against the wall and offered Pepper a trying smile. "Nice throw," He said appreciatively.

"Pepper," Tony cut in, running into the room.  
"Tony," Pepper said, her voice near hysterical. "What... What is he doing here?! Is everyone alright?!"  
"Yeah, Pepper, they're fine," Tony said, walking up to Pepper and gazing at her somewhat apologetically. "We're all fine. Loki is a guest here at the Tower, and nothing to be worried about, as he isn't trying anything, and..." He froze at the look on Pepper's face and backtracked. "Aaaand, I should've told you, really. I just... No excuses for this. It's obviously, like, a really big deal and you should've-"

Pepper picked up a spatula and threw it again, only this time, directed at Tony, who dodged the hit. And with a last scathing look, she turned and walked out of the room.

"I should've told you," Tony called after her. He turned to Loki and glared.

"I swear, I did nothing," Loki said, holding up his hands in surrender. The corners of his mouth were twitching as if he was fighting back a smile.  
"Stay here," Tony commanded, turning and running after Pepper.

* * *

Thor walked into the kitchen to get a plate ready to take to his brother, as he assumed Loki would want to stay in the lounge, when he saw Loki sitting on top of a counter, with the place in a state of disarray. Loki glanced up when Thor walked in almost hopefully before rolling his eyes.

"What are you doing?" Thor wondered.  
"Staying here," Loki answered with a glare. "Please cease speaking to me now."  
Thor fumbled for a moment. "You're upset with me again?" He said, aghast.

"Yes," Loki said uncaringly, training his eyes on the door again as Thor walked to the fridge.

"What did I do to upset you this time?" Thor demanded.

"Nothing," Loki said, pursing his lips.  
Thor blinked, surprised. "Then why are you angry at me?" He asked in bewilderment.  
"It rained last night," Loki said, as if that were answer enough. "And, not to mention, it's sort of the principle of the thing. Now, I would love it if you stopped asking me questions."  
"You are waiting for something," Thor commented, nodding at Loki as if to say 'see? You don't have to answer that one'.  
"Yes, I am," Loki rolled his eyes.  
"It may have something to do with why this room looks like a bilgesnipe ran through it," Thor said thoughtfully.

"It may," Loki agreed stiffly.  
Thor sighed, knowing he wasn't going to get any answers out of Loki with the other upset at him. So he just walked to the cupboards and peered inside for some food.  
Just as he was taking down the first box of Poptarts, Clint walked into the room and his eyes widened.

"What happened?" He demanded to Loki.  
"Lady Potts," Loki supplied with a long suffering sigh.

"Pepper!" Clint hit his forehead with his hand. "We forgot about Pepper!"  
"Is she not Friend Stark's lady?" Thor asked curiously.

"Yes, she is," Loki said. "Lovely woman. Good arm."  
Clint suddenly barked out a laugh, looking around the room. "She throw stuff at you or something?" He chuckled.  
"Why yes, she did," Loki waved a hand airily.

"I knew I liked her!" Clint exclaimed, still grinning away brightly. "I wish I could've seen that."  
"Lady Potts threw things at you?" Thor asked, furrowing his brow.

"Yes," Loki answered.

"Why?" Thor inquired, confused. "Did you do something?"  
"No, not really," Loki sighed. "Unless you count washing the dishes as something particularly worthy of being hit with things. And as for why, I am guessing it has something to do with my attempted conquering of New York, my decimation of her home, or my throwing her beloved out of his own window where he could've easily fallen to his demise."  
"Yeah, that would make sense," Clint snorted.

"Whoa," Bruce said, walking into the room and looking around nervously. "What happened here?"  
"Lady Potts," Loki answered again.

"Pepper?" Bruce said doubtfully, and then he froze. "Oh. Pepper."  
"Yep," Clint nodded.  
"Did... Did Tony think to... You know," Bruce waved his hand at Loki explanatorily. "Tell her about this?"  
"No," Loki, Clint, and Thor answered at the same time.

"It came as quite a shock to her," Loki informed him. "And I would've explained, but I was a tad busy at the time."  
"Did she actually hit you when she threw stuff?" Clint asked with a grin.  
"Only on her first throw," Loki said. "I admit, I thought that Lady Natasha had come in, as I was facing away, and then before I said anything, she threw one of those pans at me."  
He gestured to a frying pan nearby that looked somewhat dented.

Everyone stared at the pan for a second in contemplative silence, and then Clint spoke up.

"Frying pans!" He said happily. "Who knew, right?"  
"Lady Potts must be quite spirited," Thor said with a hearty laugh. "I would enjoy meeting this fair maiden!"  
"Only Pepper would throw a pan at the god of mischief," Bruce said, shaking his head and chuckling a bit. "Did she ask you any questions?"  
"No," Loki said. "And for that, I am grateful. In fact, I am fairly certain she did not say anything, but I may have simply missed it."  
Natasha walked into the room then, and glanced around with little more than a slight lift of her eyebrow.

"I'm not sure I want to know what happened," She said unconcernedly.

"Lady Potts," Everyone said at the same time.

Natasha nearly smiled, but seemed to think better of it and simply went to the refrigerator to get some food out.

"Aren't you going to ask what happened?" Thor asked her.

"I can pretty much guess," Natasha informed him. "Pepper probably came in, saw Loki, threw some things, and may or may not have used some mace as well. Then, Tony probably came in and tried to talk her down. She may or may not have also thrown something at Tony. She stormed off, he went after her, and Loki stayed here."  
The others all turned to Loki for conformation, and the trickster raised his eyebrows at Natasha in surprise. "Very good, Agent Romanoff," He said. "Though in retrospect, it is a bit obvious when you look at the evidence."  
Natasha just smirked at him a bit.

* * *

_So yeah. A bit short, but what are you gonna do? Like I said, might've been rubbish. Oh well. Now we can move on. Follow, favorite, review and all that. Unless you thought it was horrible and hate me now. If that's the case, don't review. Haha, kidding._

_Also, wanted to add something. The whole story about Loki insulting everyone at a party he shouldn't even be attending, I kind of took the general idea from Norse mythology, when Loki shows up to a party and... well, insults everyone. In mythology though, Loki also insults Odin and Thor, and then leaves when Thor threatens (repeatedly) to break every bone in his body. In my story, he insults everybody, but Thor isn't there and neither is Odin, and pays the price when they whip him, which is when Thor comes into the picture, furious and carrying his brother to the healing rooms. Seems a lot better, when you think about it._

_Sorry. Rambling. I'll let you guys all be now. Peace out._

_Jo~_


	7. Idealism and Realism

_Yeah! New chapter! Uh... It's kinda long... but whatevs. It's pretty good, as a whole. So... Yeah._

_Disclaimers: None of these characters or other fairly familiar things belong to me. I own nothing but the storyline and I don't even legally own that. Like, it's not copyrighted or anything. And also, some of this (some of the funnier Tony parts, my sister says) was written by my sister PlushChrome. As always, if you like my stories, you should definitely check out hers. (Hey guys, this is PlushChrome. You might especially like Lifesource, as it's got a lot of Loki.)_

_Thank you, PlushChrome. (You're quite welcome.) Anyways, getting back to me. Thanks to all so far who have followed and favorited and reviewed. You guys are cool._

_Enjoy._

_Jo~ (And PlushChrome. What? I'm not stealing the spotlight. Whatevs.) SHUT UP! (pft, yeah right.) Sorry about her, guys._

* * *

"And I just-" Pepper was saying wildly. "He was right there!"  
"I know, I just forgot to call," Tony spoke over her.  
"Washing the dishes, _our_ dishes!" Pepper continued. "Like – like... I don't know!"  
"Should've thought to tell you," Tony said. "That there was a cursed demigod in the Tower."  
"Yeah, that would've been nice to know," Pepper said.

"Well, Thor sprang it on me," Tony said, shrugging slightly. "Just last night." "That's... Tony, that's all night and all morning!" Pepper protested. "You could've called!"  
"I know, it's just... It was weird," Tony tried to explain. "And it just sort of, happened, like, all of a sudden."

"I mean... He threw you out a window!" Pepper exclaimed.

"I know, but actually-" Tony started.

"He destroyed New York," Pepper continued. "The Tower. Tried to... rip apart our way of life!"  
"Yeah, well, that might not be..." Tony hesitated, trying to find the right words. "I think he's different."  
"Different?" Pepper repeated. "Tony, that was two weeks ago! People don't just do that kind of stuff, and then get better, in two weeks!"  
"I know, I really do," Tony said. "And I actually thought that. But, uh... There's some stuff that just doesn't add up."  
"No, you can't fix everything, Tony," Pepper said, breaking their 'talking over each other' moment with a serious frown.  
"I know," Tony sighed. "It's just... There's actually some stuff here, Pep. It's hard to explain, but... If you saw the way he was... You know, when people aren't, uh... Throwing things at him."  
Pepper pursed her lips. "Why is this important to you?" She asked.

"It's not important to me," Tony protested. "It's just... Everyone deserves a second chance. Wow, okay, that sounded cliché, so... not saying that again. Plus, there were some things he said last night that didn't make sense. I think... I think I might've gotten some stuff wrong."  
"Wow," Pepper said, blinking in surprise. "You don't say that very often."  
"Yeah, well, that's cause I'm hardly ever wrong about anything," Tony told her.  
"Right," Pepper snorted. "Just like you were 'right' when you flew to Hawaii for the weekend, and didn't tell anyone where you were going."  
"Hey, I apologized for that," Tony said with a small frown. "And... Actually, I'm pretty sure that... I told Bruce."  
"You took Bruce with you," Pepper laughed. "Which, was also not that great of an idea. Because Hawaii is not exactly a stress free environment."  
"We had a great time," Tony said airily. "He let go of a bit of tension, everything was..." He wouldn't let himself say perfect. "Just fine. And, come on Pepper, like this Tower is stress free."  
Pepper smiled a bit, but then seemed to remember the situation and grimaced. "I just... want to know that you'll be alright," She said. "That you _all_ will be alright."  
"... Yeah, but mostly me, right?" Tony said. Pepper gave him a look and he held up his hands. "Right, okay, you want reassurance. I can get that. But, you're gonna have to talk to Lokes... Without hitting him with anything."  
"Tony, I don't want to talk to him," Pepper protested. "I just want-"

"You just want someone to honestly tell you he's not going to try and pull anything," Tony said. "Loki can't lie. Ask him to tell you whether or not he's going to cause us, or Earth, any harm. And in order for you to do that... You're gonna have to actually, like, speak to him."  
"Fine," Pepper sighed warily. "Fine, I'll... talk to him. But!" Tony froze and she continued strictly. "You have to wear those wristlets for the suit."  
Tony held up his hands with a small grin to show Pepper the metal bands on his wrists.

"And I want Bruce there," Pepper persisted, unimpressed. "He's the one that stopped Loki last time, so he's less likely to try anything. And, if I'm not satisfied with this, I'm calling SHIELD."  
"What?" Tony protested. "Pep, even Clint and Tasha aren't calling SHIELD, and Thor would be, well, really upset. You should've seen him get all protective when they first came. That, really wouldn't work out well."  
"I reserve the right," Pepper said calmly. "Not saying I will call them, but... but I can. And if he starts acting out or... or, he says he really is planning something, then... I have them on speed dial."  
Tony hesitated, but then decided that he had asked for this and nodded his head.

"JARVIS," He called. "Where's Brucey?"  
_"Dr. Banner is currently in the kitchen,"_ JARVIS relayed smoothly.

"Really?" Tony said, raising his eyebrows in surprise. "That's good. Come on Pepper."  
He began walking to the kitchen again, Pepper following him nervously, and opened the door.

Everyone was there except for Steve. Clint and Natasha were talking in quiet voices, Thor was eating Poptarts, Bruce looked anxious as he poured himself some coffee, and Loki was sitting on a counter again, kicking his legs and looking surprisingly childlike.

When they walked in, silence fell upon the room and Loki looked up and licked his lips nervously.

"Lady Potts," He inclined his head and gave Pepper a small smile. She raised an eyebrow, apparently unimpressed.

"You threw Tony out a window," She said coolly.

"I did," Loki said, dropping the smile. He didn't sound proud of the act, or ashamed. Just stating a fact. But Tony found himself actually impressed by the fact that he offered up no excuses or defenses, or tried to convince Pepper he was great.

"And you destroyed the city," Pepper stated.

"Well, I did not technically _destroy_ it," Loki said thoughtfully, as if he was just considering it himself rather than expecting Pepper to be swayed by this argument. "To destroy means to reduce something to a useless form, broken beyond repair. To defeat completely. More like a decimation as such, though not even to that extent. I suppose I simply wreaked havoc on the land."  
"Not really helping there, Lokes," Tony grimaced. "Pep wants to know if you've got anything planned."  
"I told you already I do not," Loki said with a frown. "Didn't you explain as much to your lady?"  
"Well, yeah," Tony told him. "But hearing it from someone who's unable to lie helps a lot as far as trust levels go."  
"So you really aren't going to do anything?" Pepper demanded.

"Anything is a very strong word, Lady Potts," Loki said hesitantly. "I cannot physically do nothing unless I am dead. And as Thor is too foolish to allow that to happen-"

"Loki, cease speaking such words," Thor interrupted with a glare.  
"However," Loki continued without taking any notice of Thor. "I can say that I am almost certain I will not do anything to cause you or the others any pain. Unless it's an accident or I completely lose my head. Or unless you're counting insults or other slights that I will undoubtedly say at some point, especially to Thor. And I will probably continue to shove him just because the idiot keeps trying to protect me."  
He glared at Thor, who did nothing but roll his eyes in response, and Pepper blinked.

"That's not really helping either," Tony told him.

"I am only being honest," Loki protested in confusion. "Isn't that that what she came back here for?"  
"Yeah, yeah it is," Pepper sighed, brushing some hair out of her face. "Thank you for being so honest. I'm still not sure I'm comfortable having you here, though."  
"Understandable," Loki said, waving an airy hand.

"Unfortunately, he and Thor are a package deal," Clint said with a glare. "Which seems to be the case every time. And SHIELD can't know about it."  
"Pepper's call," Tony said. "Actually, it's literally her call. She has SHIELD on speed dial, and she said she'd call 'em if she wasn't well pleased."  
"What?!" Thor demanded. "You swore to me that SHIELD would not be informed! They will not understand, and we traveled here to remove ourselves from those that would think to hurt Loki or misuse the curse!"  
"I just wanted to be sure," Pepper said, pursing her lips. "I didn't actually think I was going to make the call. What with Tony being so certain and everything. As long as he's not, like, gonna try and destroy the world again. Or... wreak havoc, or whatever."  
Loki offered her a small, almost real smile at the correction before evidently deciding he was done with the conversation and sliding off of the counter, striding easily to the window.

"You have my sincere thanks, Lady Potts," Thor proclaimed, taking Pepper's hand and bowing over it. And then, in a quiet tone so only she and Tony could hear. "He really _is_ trying."  
"Pepper," Pepper said, smiling at Thor. "It's Pepper, Thor."  
"Of course, Lady Pepper," Thor beamed.

"Easy there, Romeo," Tony said, taking Pepper's hand from the demigod. He turned to Pepper and noticed that she still looked frazzled and worried. "Want a drink?" He asked.

"Tony, it's hardly eight," Pepper sighed. "You shouldn't-"

"Coffee," Tony cut her off. "Brucey? Coffee?"  
"Yeah, I could use some," Bruce chuckled. "I've been trying to cut back, though..."  
Tony gave him a doubtful look and walked to the coffee machine which, as always, had been filled already by JARVIS.

"Coffee?" Thor asked, his eyes lighting up. "I have had some of this 'coffee'. It was a most delectable drink!"

"Hey, have at thee than, Big Guy," Tony said. "JARVIS always makes a bit too much. Tasha, you want some coffee?"  
"No thank you," Natasha said with just a hint of a smile. "I had mine earlier, and I was going to go get some practice in. Clint? You coming with?"  
"Yeah," Clint seemed grateful for the excuse to leave. "Anything to get away from Horns over here."  
The two agents left, Natasha sweeping the room contemplatively and Clint throwing Loki a warning glare.

"Lokes," Tony said to break the tension. "Coffee for you?"  
Loki looked up from the window with a startled expression. "Excuse me?" He asked.

"Do you want some coffee?" Tony asked slowly.

"Oh, um..." Loki looked at the coffee and then back at Tony doubtfully. "That depends. Is it alcoholic?"  
"Too early for alcohol," Tony said, holding up the pot. "And, uh... It's just this drink that get's you all, like, energetic and such. It's good, especially black. If you want it. I mean, it's very Earthly and whatever so you might not like it, what with your Asgardian tastes and everything."

Loki just stared at him like he was crazy. "... Why?" He asked after a moment.  
"I don't know," Tony said with a shrug, starting to pour out the dark liquid. "Why not?"  
"... That is not a logical argument, Stark," Loki said.  
"So... coffee?" Tony asked, holding up a Stark Industries mug for Loki to take and smirking a bit. "It's good."  
"Why not?" Loki repeated, shaking his head and taking the mug.

"Are you hungry, Loki?" Thor asked absently as he fished in the cupboards for something to eat.  
"Yes," Loki answered promptly, glaring. "Stop asking questions."  
"Apologies, Brother," Thor said easily. He shouted in victory and removed a box of S'mores Poptarts. "These are called Poptarts and they are only found in Midgard. I am particularly fond of this type of Poptart, and of the chocolate fudge ones."  
"I see," Loki said stiffly. "But I do not particularly want your... Poptarts. I would rather not eat sweets on an empty stomach."  
"Speaking of which," Bruce spoke up. "I don't mean to pry or anything, but... when's the last time you ate?"

"Two days before coming to Midgard the first time," Loki said airily, sipping at the coffee. "You know, this is not completely disgusting."  
"What?!" Thor exclaimed as everyone else froze. "Two days?!"  
"Yes, two days," Loki repeated. "Actually, it is... fairly good. We have nothing like this drink on Asgard."  
"Why did you not say anything?" Thor demanded.

"I hardly thought it was important, considering I was destroying your world," Loki said, looking up at Thor in confusion. "I do not see why you are so focused on this, Brother. It doesn't matter."  
"But... But on Asgard," Thor tried. "Did you not eat on Asgard?!"  
"No, I did not," Loki frowned.

"You mean to tell me," Bruce said calmly. "That you haven't eaten in _sixteen days_?!"  
"No," Loki said. "Time moves differently in Asgard. I would say that it has been closer to six days since I ate." He took another calm drink of his coffee. "But as I said, it matters not."  
"Don't they feed their prisoners in Asgard?!" Tony demanded to Thor.

"Y-yes, of course we do," Thor stuttered. "I... He wasn't even a prisoner, really. But... I brought him a plate once, but I dropped it and then... Didn't the servants cater to you, Loki?"

"Of course not, you dolt," Loki said, looking even more confused than before. "I do not understand why you're so fixated on this."

"Brother..." Thor started, taking a step forward. Suddenly he was sent staggering back, and everyone looked in surprise at Tony, who had delivered the punch with surprising force and accuracy, a look of rage on his face. Everyone stood in stunned silence as Tony looked around, seeming to come to himself. Turning without a word, he briskly left the room.

Pepper glanced after him before turning to Loki with a strict expression. "You're eating," She proclaimed. "Right now."  
Bruce stood up, looking a little green, and walked to the fridge. He silently set a jug of milk on the table, followed by a box of cereal and a bowl and spoon and then took a carton of eggs and the dented frying pan and started furiously making eggs.

"Eat," He commanded shortly to Loki.

Loki looked completely shocked, and hadn't moved since Tony had punched Thor. "I don't..." He started, shaking his head. "I don't understand."  
"We have rules here on _Midgard_," Pepper said, saying the last word with a little extra spite. "Concerning how we treat those under our protection. Regular meals are one of them."

"But..." Loki said, still looking confused. "It... It hardly matters. I can survive for years without food and not die."  
Bruce whirled around angrily. "You know that from experience?!" He demanded, the green spreading slightly to his skin.  
"Well, yes," Loki said.

Thor looked sick. "Loki," He said. "That is horrible. I meant... I meant to bring you some food before, but I forgot."  
"And that is completely understandable," Loki said. "But I-"

Before he could finish that sentence, Tony came back into the room, carrying a protein shake and glaring. He slammed it on the table and then left again without a word.

Loki gaped.

Pepper nudged the protein shake. "That's better than coffee," she said. "Drink it."  
Looking completely mystified, Loki picked the glass up suspiciously and looked at the contents. "It looks like vomit," he noted. "But pink in color."

"That'd be the strawberries," Pepper said. "Drink."

"Ugh, fine," Loki said with a long-suffering sigh and a roll of his eyes, having regained some of his composure and stubbornness. He took a few slow sips in silence and watched as Bruce flipped the eggs with a little more violence then was necessary.

"Well, now that that's settled," Pepper said. "I'm going to go to the workshop before Tony destroys the place again."

Loki raised an eyebrow. "He does that often?" He asked.

"More often than I do," Bruce said, slamming the plate down in front of Loki. "I'm coming with you, Pepper." With a look at Thor that clearly meant "Apologize, NOW," the two mortals left the room, shutting the door rather forcefully behind them.

"I really don't understand mortals," Loki commented.

Thor sat across the table from him and pursed his lips, watching Loki as he slowly took a bite of the eggs.

"...You could've asked me for some food," Thor said after a moment. "If you were hungry."  
"Could I now?" Loki muttered, leaning back in his chair.

"Loki, you should eat," Thor said gently. "My friends are right, you should've had _something_ by now. Why did you not ask me?"  
"I didn't think of it," Loki said with a glare. "I was far too busy sulking over my punishment. Now stop asking questions."  
"I'm sorry, Brother," Thor said earnestly. "But you ought to have _told_ me!"

"Oh, stop acting so perfect," Loki snapped suddenly, slamming his hands down on the table. "For far too long you have ignored me and overlooked me, only to lament your lack of perception after the fact! You do not bother with all you claim to consider important! I have starved for eons in the past, Thor, and your little _friends_ noticed within a matter of two days while you have never even bothered to _think!_"

"Brother, please, tell me how I am to earn your forgiveness!" Thor begged. "I swear it upon the Allfather, I did not know!"

"Yes, you can hardly help your own stupidity," Loki spat. "You have gone through life blinded to all misfortune and prejudice, barreling through with little heed to what you pass. Were you to pass a murderer you would justify his actions!"  
"Brother, indeed, I would not," Thor protested.  
"You honestly believe that's true?!" Loki demanded with a laugh. "Well, let me think for a second, Thor. Yesterday I said I was a murderer and you said I was not. Now, tell me I have not killed hundreds of people with little remorse!"

"You have not killed hundreds of people withlittle remorse," Thor said steadfastly.

"... You are unbelievably stupid," Loki said.

"No," Thor said. "Say it yourself."  
"What?" Loki asked.

"I said, say it yourself," Thor said. "Say that you have killed hundreds of people with little remorse."  
"I..." Loki trailed off and cursed before trying again. "I have killed hundreds of people... Hundreds..."

"HA!" Thor shouted, jumping up. "See, Loki? See?!"  
"That doesn't change anything," Loki protested. "Remorse or not, I am still a murderer! And you insist on justifying it!"  
"I am not justifying the act," Thor said, still beaming. "I am justifying you as a whole. Your actions do not make up you yourself! What you do does not make you the personification of that act!"

"But a person's actions _stem_ from themselves," Loki said with satisfaction. "An action does not shape an individual, but an individual does indeed shape his actions!"  
"I don't believe you did all that because you were truly evil," Thor said. "I believe you are good at heart, but were misguided!"

"The problem is," Tony said from the doorway, causing both Thor and Loki to whirl around in surprise. "Thor, you're an idealist. Loki, you're a realist. Relatively speaking."

"Friend Stark!" Thor exclaimed. "What... what are you doing here?"

"I came back for the coffee," Tony said. "And, uh, nothing else. Pepper isn't making me apologize for hitting. I just want the coffee."

"What did you mean by what you said?" Loki asked.

"Thor believes everybody's really good," Tony said. "While you believe that everybody's really evil. So, Thor thinks you can't possibly be evil, even though you murdered all those people. And you think you can't possibly be good, even though you felt bad about it."

"What do you think, then?" Thor asked. "Since you are impartial?"

"Impartial?" Tony repeated, raising his eyebrow. "How would you know I'm impartial, Thor? As it happens, you asked the wrong person. I think Lokes is totally evil."

"HA!" Loki exclaimed, grinning at Thor broadly. "See? Your Stark thinks I'm evil as well, and he's one of your _oh so powerful_ Avengers!"

"Now, don't you get all excited either," Tony said. "I, unlike you, think that people might just be a bit redeemable. So yeah, you're evil. Whatevs. What are you gonna do now is the question."

"Well, Loki?" Thor demanded with a smirk of his own.

"Ugh, sibling rivalry," Tony noted. "I'm just gonna get my coffee and go. Sorry for hitting or whatever."

Suddenly, Steve burst into the room, looking completely frantic. "Pepper!" He shouted. "Guys, we forgot about Pepper! She's gonna show up any minute and she doesn't know Loki's staying here!"  
"A little behind the times there, buddy," Tony said, looking surprised.  
"She came more then fifteen minutes ago," Thor told him. "We solved everything and now she is alright with Loki staying here."  
"She threw a pan at Loki," Tony said.

"Lovely woman," Loki supplied. And then he burst out laughing. "Congratulations, Rogers," He said. "You are even more oblivious than Thor! Quite an achievement, you should be very proud."

"She threw a pan at Loki," Steve repeated blankly. "_Pepper _threw a _pan_ at the god of lies."

"And here it is," Tony said, lifting up the dented pan that was now encrusted with some egg. Holding it out, he looked at it thoughtfully. "I think I'm gonna get it framed."

* * *

_So, yeah, that's it for this chapter. Not ending the story or anything. Just this chapter. There's still bunches more to come. Lots of crazy Amora, and SHIELD being SHIELD, and JARVIS being cool, (and *teaser* Tony being... well, heehee, you'll have to wait to find out.)_

_Stop taunting, Plushie. Spoilers, and all that. Oh, and also, I'm thinking of putting Jane in this story. If you guys think that's a good idea, say so in your comments. If you don't think that's a good idea, I might still do it anyway, but I'll consider your opinions carefully. (If you don't want her in because you don't like her, don't worry, we don't like her either. It'll be funny if she does show up.)_

_And if you want her in because you really do like her, you might not want her in. I was always told that if you can't say something nice, not to say anything at all. But I might. Because I stinkin' hate her guts. (And I say mean things anyway, so... Natalie Portman. Just sayin'.) We all think Jane's a bit of a joke. And by 'we all', I mean me and PlushChrome. And others, but they're not important._

_(But Jo, didn't you hear the Doctor? Nine hundred years on the earth and he's never met anyone who wasn't important. Of course, he never met Jane Foster, so... Yeah, moot point.)_

_Hey, that's what I was gonna say! High five! (You didn't see this, but we just totes high fived each other.)_

_Anyways, rambling again. Blah. We'll let you guys get back to your lives, or your fanfics._

_(One more thing! If you guys like the way we bounce off each other, check out Jo's other story, Networking. It's pretty funny. Even though it didn't make it on the six o'clock news.) We should leave before __we__ make it on the six o' clock news. Owl City tweeted about it. (Everybody liked his status update.)Goodbye._

_Jo~ (And PlushChrome. Again. Still not an attention hog.) Oh, let's not start that again!_


	8. Enter Romilda Vane

_Okay, so just me right now. PlushChrome is doing something else at this moment, so we can't bounce off of each other. But hey, maybe next chapter, right? This chapter is kind of longish, but I really like it. And I really like how it turned out.  
Also, you may notice that it's a little better with like, spaces than some of the other chapters, and that's cause half of it was done on my Microsoft Program, and the other half was done on Google Drive. (I don't own either of them, so please don't sue me). _

_Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel, Loki, Harry Potter, or Poison Ivy. Anything you ultimately recognize is completely and totally, not mine. Also, some of this story (quite a bit of the bottom parts and a lot of the Tony input here) was written by my ever sister the amazing PlushChrome._

_And now, enjoy this chapter._

_Jo~_

* * *

Loki was annoyed, to say the least, when Anthony Stark knocked at his door around three hours after he had last eaten and announced that he had a bowl of soup, a piece of bread, and a promise from his Lady Potts that if he did not eat, she would throw another pan at him.

Loki had really just been hoping for some time alone, but clearly, Midgardians were particularly bad at giving people space. And ignoring Stark didn't work, because the talkative moron just kept on blabbering on even though Loki wasn't answering.

"Shut up, Stark," Loki snapped finally, shutting the book he was reading (the complete works of William Shakespeare) and glaring at his door.

"Sorry, no can do," Stark said from behind the wood barrier. "I'm already framing one pan, I don't want to have to frame another. And, uh, you should actually be thanking me, because Thor wanted to deliver the plate, and I said I would go ahead. I thought he wouldn't be, you know, exactly forthcoming after your little argument. And Pepper wanted to have Bruce take it, just to make sure we were safe. But I, um, thought that wouldn't be conducive to Bruce's serenity, after he nearly Hulked before. So all in all, I'm pretty much doing you a favor."

Loki groaned and put his head in his hands, trying to drown out Stark as he continued to talk on and on. And he had thought that _he_ was talkative!  
Honestly, he was a tad hungry, but he was very used to the feeling and didn't _need_ the extra sustenance. Especially after a plate of eggs, a bowl of cereal, a protein shake, a cup of black coffee, and half of Thor's Poptart. The disappearance of which was blamed on Stark, who didn't bother to protest, and Loki was left to decide that he didn't care much for those... marshmelons? Something like that.

And he did not want another scene like the one earlier. He had been shocked into silence by the fact that, not only did the mortals think it was wrong for him to go without food, but that they cared enough to do something about it and actually hit_ Thor_ on his – _his_ – behalf. And that had led to his defenses being so lowered that he ended up being far too open with Thor. Once again fighting with him over the same old things and being much, _much_ too honest with his brother.

Though, if he sent Stark away, the genius might send Thor up. And the Thunderer would hardly stand outside and wait for permission to enter. And once he barged in, the idiot would want to 'talk through their problems' or 'try to understand' or some stupid, sentimental thing like that.  
Stark was still talking, saying something about children in Africa and investing in a delivery boy to do this stuff so he wouldn't have to.

"Fine," Loki called warily, making up his mind. "If it will get you to cease speaking, then by all means; come in. It is your lounge, besides."

Stark came into the room with a slight upturn of his lips that might've been an attempt at a smile, carrying a tray that was filled with a bowl of some creamy mix, a rather large roll, a small plate of salad, and another strawberry protein shake.

"Pep went all out," Stark said unnecessarily as he sat the tray down on one of the end tables. "I think you've accidently won her over there, Lokes."

"Do not call me that," Loki said, rolling his eyes and reopening his book. After reading a few sentences, he realized that Stark wasn't leaving and looked up with a glare. "What do you want?"

Stark held up his hands defensively, "Hey, cool it, Rudolf," He said playactingly. "I'm just here to make sure you eat. Sorry, but the wheels are all in motion and there's no stopping this train now. Pepper gave me a lecture about proper treatment of guests, which apparently includes feeding them," He rolled his eyes. "And Bruce, like, actually scolded Thor for not noticing how thin you are."

"I am not _that _thin," Loki protested.

"Really?" Stark said, raising an eyebrow. "Have you even looked in a mirror recently?"

"Yes, 'really'," Loki snapped. "And actually, I have not looked in any mirrors recently. Considering that I have had no time to _eat_ as of late, Stark, I assumed it would be obvious that I have not been doing such mundane things as fixing up my hair!"

"Wow," Stark said, quirking an unimpressed eyebrow. "You know, I was right. You _are_ a diva."

"I just do not understand why it's so important to you mortals that I eat," Loki huffed, glaring.

"It's the principle of the thing, Lokes," Stark said with a wave of his hand. "Even if it wasn't a moral issue to, like, starve someone to death just because you can, there are actual laws here in America about that sort of thing."

"How is it a moral issue if you starve me?" Loki asked, honestly confused. "Am I not a monster by your rights? Deserving of such a punishment?"

"I don't know about that..." Stark rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "It... Man, where's Steve with a lecture on America when I need him? Uh... Just... eat your food or something. I really don't want Bruce to Hulk. And I'm sure you don't really want that either, considering."

A threat, and a good threat, at that. Loki was impressed. "Perhaps the beast would kill me," He said contemplatively. But none the less, he dipped some bread into his soup and ate it. "That would be a satisfying end, comparatively. What do you think Stark? Death by Doctor Banner?"

"Hmm, pretty good," Stark said with a thoughtful expression. "Nice and dramatic. Painful, but hey, that's show biz. Though Clint might be mad he didn't get a shot at it, and death by Iron Man is much cooler."

"Yes, but your color scheme simply does not go with mine," Loki said with a smirk. "Though at least I would fall to an opponent who is not _completely_ stupid."

"I'm gonna pretend that was a compliment," Stark said. A buzzing sound came from his pocket and he pulled a sleek metal device out and flipped it open. A phone, Loki remembered.

"Hey Fury," Stark said into the device. "How's your day been so far?" After a second, he frowned and glanced at Loki, who raised an eyebrow. "Er... I'll have to – JARVIS, send the team to the lounge, please... Actually, I can explain that easily, don't get your eye patch in a twist... Thor... Yep, just hanging, that's all. Asgard was getting a little dull, so he popped over for a visit... Actually, I'm not sure. The Tesserect?"

Bifrost activity. Loki could've cursed. Of course SHIELD would have some kind of device for monitoring it. Either that, or they had some sort of security in the Tower. Probably the former, as there weren't any troops bursting through the doors and throwing Loki in prison.

And Stark was a fairly good liar. Loki was impressed by his smooth tones and quick responses.

The door swung open again and Thor came in, looking worried and sighing in relief when he saw that Loki was fine, before frowning at his barely touched food. Loki picked up the fork, looked at it, and then put it back down again just to aggravate him.

Steve Rogers followed him, frowning. "What's going on?" He asked.

"Stark just picked up a call from dear Director Fury," Loki relayed in a quiet tone of voice, not wanting the director on the other end to hear. "Apparently, it's important. Something about the Bifrost."

"Actually, that might not work," Stark chimed in, talking to Fury. "Yeah, I've got some plans that I might need to cancel, and it's, like, one PM and I've got lots of projects to do... You know, suit repairs. Standard stuff, and expandable pants for Bruce... Yeah, well, he really needs them. And I mean, uh, really."

Romanoff and Barton entered the room. Romanoff leaned against the wall, her workout outfit consisting of a full length skirt, a tight tee shirt, and a pair of high heels, which Loki filed away for future consideration on her character (Did she often need to fight in heels and a dress or did she just enjoy a challenge?).

Barton was panting and in some more standard Midgardian training clothes, and his bow was thrown over his shoulder. He plopped down on one of the lounge chairs immediately, not taking notice of how sweaty he was, and Loki wrinkled his nose in distaste.

Neither of them asked to be filled in.

"Okay, okay, I get it," Stark was saying with a roll of his eyes. "Give me a sec, kay, Pirate Pete? Gotta talk to the others." He covered the part of the phone he had been talking into with his hand and turned to the group. "Okay, where's Bruce?"

"I guess he's not here yet," Rogers said. "Stark, what is going on?"

Fury's on the phone," Stark said. "Says he wants us to come meet him on the Helicarrior. Something about magical signatures. Not from here, but he thinks because the Bifrost opened it might have something to do with Loki. He wants us all there, but, uh..."

"We can't leave Loki alone here," Romanoff finished with a small nod.

At that moment, Banner came in, and Stark smiled and lifted the phone to his ear again. "Okay Fury, we'll be down. But, uh, Bruce has gotta stay."

Banner looked startled and sighed before he also frowned at Loki's tray of food. Remembering Stark's threat about the Hulk, Loki quickly took a bite of salad and tried to ignore Thor smiling in satisfaction.

"The Big Guy's just a little close to the surface, is all," Stark said to Fury. "He's had a hard day. Rogers spilled milk on his research papers, and he tripped over the cat and broke his glasses, and I'm actually pretty sure he didn't have any coffee this morning, and he almost Hulked actually."

Again, Loki was impressed. The slight truth made Stark's other stories a little more convincing, though he did note that if they ended up talking to Fury, they would have to actually damage some of Banner's papers, break his glasses, and get a cat. None of which were especially hard, but if the man dropped in on them...

"Steve rescued it," Stark told Fury. "And now I'm just trying to find a good home. I don't know, I guess they did that kind of thing, like, all the time... Take it up with Rogers... Actually, considering it's _my_ Tower... Hey, _you're_ the one who inquired about the cat in the first place. I was simply supplying you with an answer... What? No, I guess Thor's Shakespearean ways are just rubbing off on me."

"What's going on?" Banner whispered to Rogers, who shrugged.

"Fury called," Romanoff whispered to him. "He wants us to come in, but we can't leave Loki alone in the Tower with Pepper. Stark is trying to convince Fury that you're too stressed to come so you can watch him. Probably because you're the only one of us who can take him."

Banner nodded thoughtfully and Thor frowned. "I could," He said.

Romanoff simply raised an eyebrow and turned back to watching Stark. Loki felt himself smirk at the look on Thor's face.

"Unless you want the Helicarrior crashing again," Stark said, frowning at Romanoff as if to say 'shut up, I'm on the phone'. "Actually, I'm pretty sure he could take that down singlehandedly... Okay, okay... Whatever... Well, I don't care about that... Actually, we'll just take our quinjet... It'll take much less time... Kay then... Bye." He snapped the phone shut and turned to the others. "You guys get all that?"

Rogers and Thor both stuttered uncertainly.

"Got it," Romanoff said briskly. "Clint?"

"Most of it," Barton said, standing. "The 'I don't care about that' was a little confusing and I didn't catch the beginning, but I pretty much understand."

"I don't," Rogers said with a frown. "I mean, I know we're going to the Helicarrior and taking the Quinjet, and I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to pretend I rescued a cat, which I don't do, you know," Everyone gave him doubtful looks, even Thor who didn't really know him. "But that's about it. Except that we're leaving Loki here with Bruce."

"Yeah, I got that," Bruce said. "And we might have to break my glasses later."

"I'll buy you a new pair," Stark said unconcernedly. "Tasha and I will explain the rest on the way. Thor, you're coming with us."

"But..." Thor hesitated and bit his lip, obviously trying to decide between going with his friends and staying to look after Loki.

"Thor, if you do not stop attempting to protect me, I will throw you out the window," Loki said shortly. "Shut up and go with your precious friends." He hadn't meant it to come out so biting, but Thor winced.

"... Awkward," Stark said swiftly. "But you still need to come with us or else Fury will get suspicious. Bruce'll take care of him... Make sure he eats, and all that."

Thor looked doubtfully at Loki's plate and then sighed. "Perhaps you are right," He relented. "But Doctor Banner, you must swear to me that you will not allow your beast to harm Loki."

"I can't really promise that sort of thing," Banner said with a grimace. "I mean, I'll try to hold him back, but if something happens that I can't control, then that's that. And he doesn't really like Loki, per se."

"That is a bit of an understatement, Doctor Banner," Loki scoffed. "I believe the last time I met with your beast, he broke my ribs. Though that might have just been a gesture of fondness, I suppose. You never can tell with creatures like that."

For some reason, Banner just looked slightly gratified before frowning. "Wait," He said. "I broke your ribs?"

"Well, your beast did, at least," Loki said thoughtfully. "Only five of them. And they were fairly easy to set, so it was not as bad as it could have been."

"Great," Stark sighed, putting his forehead in his hand. "Here we go again."

"When did you set them?" Thor asked, sounding only slightly upset.

"After I woke yesterday morning," Loki answered. "Which, like I said, it was fairly painless. I hardly even felt it, and they knitted together quite easily."  
Thor nodded as if broken ribs were a very common occurrence in Asgard, and setting them yourself once you woke up in the morning and waiting for them to knit together was very ordinary. Banner gave Thor a slightly upset look, looking like he was going to start telling him off.

"Bruce," Stark cut in. "You can talk to Thor about noticing Loki's broken ribs later. Right now, we've gotta split. I'll tell Pepper goodbye, and not to worry and whatever, and then we'll leave. Hey, try not to, like, kill him or something. Kay?"

"Sure, Tony," Banner said with a tight nod, seeming to gather himself as everyone left to suit up before turning back to Loki with an awkward smile. "So, how do you like the lounge?"

"I like it very much indeed," Loki told him with a frown. "Please refrain from asking me questions."

"Okay, sorry," Banner said easily. "Hey, are you gonna finish that salad?"

Loki looked down at his food thoughtfully. "I suppose not," He said. "I am not hungry enough for so much food."

Bruce took the plate and began eating some of the lettuce. Loki watched him for a second, but the scientist seemed perfectly content to sit in silence. Loki went back to his book, eating occasionally because when he didn't Banner looked up at him and made a face that looked like Thor whenever Loki wouldn't go hunting with him.

Which was an impossibly sentimental and foolish comparison, considering that the two looked absolutely nothing alike.

After a while of quiet, Banner looked up with a small frown. "Can I... I want to ask you something," He said, phrasing his sentence so Loki wasn't forced into anything. "You don't have to answer, if you don't feel... comfortable."

Loki tilted his head to the side and considered. Like with Stark the night before, he was thrown by the fact that he was given a choice. Banner was not even going to ask if he did not allow it. It made Loki feel like he wanted to answer, to repay his kindness.

"Like I said," Banner was saying, ducking his head a little bit. "You don't have to. I just... I'm curious."

"I will answer if I am comfortable," Loki told him warily.

"Okay," Banner nodded and considered his words for a moment. "I just... Earlier, you said you'd gone for years without food." He frowned, looking a tad angry again. "I was just wondering how many times that happened."

Loki did a quick headcount. "I would say around five," He answered with a small nod. "Yes, I went without food for years five various times."  
"Why?" Banner asked, breathing deeply as if trying to be calm.

"The first time..." Loki turned his head to the side again and tried to remember. "That one was the time that Thor and I were captured and taken to Muspelheim, which nearly started a war. The Fire Giants feed solely on rock, and there wasn't much food they could give us."

"So they starved you," Banner said with a tight nod.

"No, it was my choice," Loki corrected. "They _did_ give us some food, but they had no concept of what growing Asgardian boys needed, and there was not much in terms of helpings. I..." Loki licked his lips and tried closing off his expression. "I did not need as much food as Thor, I was used to skipping the occasional meal and he was the crowned prince. It was completely logical."

Banner stared at him for a second. "You... gave him your portions," He stated.

"It was-" He wanted to say it was nothing, just a logical decision he had made with absolutely no emotional feelings towards his pig of a brother. Once again, he couldn't get the words out. But he felt slightly uncomfortable with Banner thinking he had been self-sacrificing. Especially towards Thor.

"No, that's cool, that you did that," Banner said, looking a tad confused. "What about... I'm wondering about the other times."

"The second was of similar circumstance," Loki told him. "Though perhaps a little less valiant on my part. We were captured by some dwarven lords who sought recompense for the returning of us. However, I tried to use my words to remove Thor and I from the situation and the dwarves, seeing through my lies, took it upon themselves to rid me of my silver tongue. Being unable to eat, I had offered my morsels to Thor."

"They ridded you of your silver tongue," Banner repeated, not quite a question. "How did they...?"

"They sewed my mouth shut," Loki tried to sound nonchalant and uncaring, but his voice was tight and uncomfortable anyway. After all, that had hardly been a fun time for him and those dwarves with their cruelties had often warred with Thanos and the Other for hold over his nightmares.

Banner stared at him in a kind of horrified disbelief. "...How old were you?!" He demanded after a moment.

"Fourteen, in your Midgardian years," Loki said, watching the scientist warily. "It was not _all_ that bad. Thor was very..." Comforting? Vengeful? Kind? "... He did not laugh," Loki finished lamely. Banner's eye twitched. "And the wounds healed. I could speak again within the course of a few weeks, after we were removed from prison."

"I'm almost afraid to ask," Banner said with a small sigh. "But I'm wondering about the other times."

Loki fidgeted uncomfortably. "Ah, those were harder," He said. "I... do not want to talk about them."

Because out of the three remaining, two he had afflicted upon himself. Starving so that people would look over at him and wonder at why he wasn't eating.

So that Volstagg could say "NONSENSE!" in that loud voice of his whenever he said he was not hungry and inform him that _all_ growing boys needed to eat before stacking his plate full of a dizzying amount of food. So that Frigga would come to his room and sigh and grieve over how very small he was looking. So that Fandral would give him those confused looks and tell him that, if Volstagg could eat to his hearts content and still be a good warrior than he certainly could. So that Odin would sit there and watch him as he ate, determined not to leave until every bite was gone from his plate.

And most importantly, so that Thor would get that look on his face that said he cared as he pulled Loki into his arms and wondered at how he had not noticed how thin he was, staying with him for a short, precious time and laughing with him and comforting him just like he used to.

And the fifth time he had starved was when he was with the Chitauri. The days fading into months, a kaleidoscope of pain and desperation where it hardly even mattered that he was hungry because it hurt so much.

He couldn't relive those moments.

"Excuse me," Loki said abruptly, standing and starting to pace. Back and forth, like a caged animal.

"Sorry," Banner said regretfully.

Loki threw him a bewildered look as he paced. "Whatever for?" He wondered.

"I didn't mean to intrude," The scientist said. "I guess that stuff isn't very easy to remember. No wonder you're so used to starving. Didn't Thor... I mean, I'm wondering why Thor didn't stop you the first time."

"He didn't know," Loki said with a frown. "He thought I was eating just as well as he was and only when we got home did he _see_ that I... But that is common. Thor is not very perceptive."

"Yeah, I noticed," Banner said, nodding. "You're here for less then a day and I notice how thin you look, and he didn't even bother to bring you food."

"I am not _that_ thin," Loki protested again, folding his arms and frowning down at his shirt. It was black today, to match his dark pants and boots. "And besides, he brought me a plate. He simply dropped it."

"Without all the leather and metal, you're alarmingly thin," Banner stated bluntly. "What I'm wondering is what you ate before six days ago."

"I don't..." Loki frowned and reviewed his memories. "Not counting the poisoned foods, I did not eat at all after Thor's coronation day. That would be a little more then a year. Hardly even a wait, considering the longevity of the other four various times."

Banner sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Poisoned food," He said. "Naturally, you were fed poisoned food."

Loki licked his lips again nervously and sat back down, cursing his own stupidity. They were getting horrendously close to the subject of Chitauri torture, and he did not want to relive that. Plus, he would rather not have the Avengers and his brother aware of exactly how weak he was.

But Banner didn't say anything about it, he simply got up and began rifling through some things. Loki watched the doctor warily as he smiled and removed a black, dusty box from the fireplace mantel.

"Chess," Banner supplied as he placed the box in front of Loki.

"Chess?" Loki repeated, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I don't know if you have it on Asgard," Banner said. "But I thought it was your type of game."

"We have chess in Asgard," Loki told him. He didn't have to mention that no one was ever willing to play him, as he would always win and no one was willing to risk the shame of losing to Asgard's resident disappointment. Nor was he inclined to bring up the fact that, more often than not, he had ended up conjuring holographic clones of himself in desperation for a little company. Only to spend the whole of the game attempting to outthink himself, perfecting his facial expressions, and wholly despising himself in every way.

"I bet you won a lot," Banner guessed with another of his easy grins, starting to set up the board.

"Yes," Loki said honestly. After all, he both won and lost whenever he played chess.

"Blacks or whites?" Banner inquired before grimacing. "Sorry, I didn't mean to ask."

"I understand, it was accidental," Loki told him, mystified by these strange mortals. "And I prefer the blacks, thank you. They are darker, like me. The white soldiers always remind me of Thor."

"Thor doesn't strike me as the chess type," Banner remarked idly. "I can't really imagine the two of you sitting down to a match. You must've beaten him a fair few times."

Loki blinked back a mental picture of him and Thor, strategizing and laughing with one another at their mistakes. "He never played me," He said. "Though if he had, I am fairly certain that I would have defeated him, yes. He has never particularly cared for strategy. Or..."

Or anything Loki found interesting or enjoyable. Anything he wanted to do, Thor always threw aside. Reading in the library? That was for the old and weary. Watching the masters do magic? That was for girls. Walking along the paths of the forests? Boring unless you were tracking some sort of prey.

Eventually, Loki had gotten the idea that Thor really just didn't care for _him_ in general. Yes, the Thunderer had proclaimed that he loved him, and yes he did attempt to drag Loki into several different wild hunts or other adventures (That Loki had always ended up agreeing to, ever desperate for some time with his brother), but on a whole, he did not actually enjoy Loki for who he was.

Banner had finished setting up the pieces by this time, and, moving his first piece, leaned back in his chair, waiting for Loki to make his move.

Loki felt the corner of his mouth turn up involuntarily as he reached over to play his first real game of chess in a long time.

* * *

All in all, Tony's first impression of the ever famous Jane Foster left him decidedly unimpressed.

For a long, long time now, he had been hearing about her brilliance from SHIELD, and her strength and beauty from Thor and a few others. Not to mention Selvig's glowing report of her character. But now, as he and the other Avengers stood awkwardly by, trying not to watch as she continuously kissed Thor (Dude, it was taking like, forever), he just kept second guessing their brilliant plans to rendezvous with her and bring her along for the ride.

Looking around at his team mates (rather than continuing to watch... _that_), Tony noticed that Clint was blushing, Steve had his hand over his eyes, and even Natasha was looking away with a slightly sickened expression.

Enough was enough.

"Hey, Thor, buddy," Tony interrupted the happy couple. "Planning on breathing anytime soon? Or do you Asgardians have a bigger lung capacity than us? Even so, I guess Bella would pass out fairly quickly."

Clint snorted at the reference and Jane narrowed her eyes as she (finally) pulled away from Thor.

"Oh, are you upset that I'm not swooning over you like your cover girls?" She snarked. "Or do you _prefer_ beauty over brains?"

Choosing to ignore that cover girls technically meant a make-up company, Tony just smirked right back. "You think a girl can only be in one category?" He shot back. "So then, which one are you?"

"And it's not like Stark hasn't been in a committed relationship for like, four months now or something," Clint cut in, looking surprisingly defensive. Maybe he'd been so unnerved by the PDA that his filters were off. "Get with the times, Girly."

"Yeah," Jane said, rolling her eyes at Clint. "And I'm just sure that four months with a pretty assistant makes up for his years of breaking the hearts of other girls."

"We all believe in second chances here, ma'am," Steve cut in with a slight frown, still slightly pink, even worse with the present talk.

"Shouldn't we all be in the briefing room?" Natasha spoke up, with a look that most understood to mean 'Before this gets any uglier than it already is.'

"Right you are, Natashalie," Tony said, snapping his fingers. "We all know how impatient Fury gets when we're running late, and he's not gonna take 'soul sucking dementors' as an excuse."

He really needed to learn to bite his tongue. But luckily, Thor had never read Harry Potter, and Jane obviously hadn't either, as she looked bewildered while Clint laughed about his reference to the Dementor's Kiss.

Taking Jane's hand and, completely oblivious to the discomfort of the others, Thor began walking through the halls. Jane followed him like a puppy and listened avidly as Thor started talking of Asgard and his mother and father, and anything that didn't have to do with Loki.

"Wow," Clint muttered, breaking the silence. "I have never disliked someone so quickly in my life."

"There are maybe about six, seven others who took precedence," Tony said. "But yeah, she's annoying."

"Isn't she supposed to be this... really smart, cool girl?" Steve asked, looking a tad bewildered, like they must've gotten the wrong Jane.

Tony shrugged. "Maybe she got her Masters in really bad kissing?" He suggested.

"How to eat someone's face off in under four minutes," Clint said with a bit of a smile.

"That was only four minutes?" Tony said with a smirk.

"Mouth to mouth 101," Natasha suggested.

Tony laughed loudly at that, mainly because it was funny to hear the Black Widow making a joke, and having the extra bonus of being about someone who'd just insulted him. He would have to get back at Jane for that later. Especially the 'pretty assistant' comment. As if Pepper wasn't so much more.

"Guys," Steve interrupted, blushing again. "Fury, remember? We don't want to be too late."

"Right," Clint said. "Ix-Nay on the Ane-Jay jokes. At least for now."

As they stepped into the debriefing room, Fury turned from where he had been silhouetted against the window. Tony was pretty sure Fury planned his introductions to the exact seconds in an attempt to look extra impressive. Today, Tony ranked him maybe a 7.2.

"Avengers, Miss Foster," Fury said by way of a hello. "I'm sure you know why we're all here."

"Magical signatures," Tony spoke up. "Bifrost opening. Which, we already settled that one with Goldilocks over here popping in for a visit. You think-"

"Actually," Jane interrupted. Tony resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "There's more to it than that."

Fury turned and looked at her slowly and she frowned. "Excuse me?" He said in his no-nonsense voice. "You mean there's more than what you told us?"

"I told you what you needed to know," Jane said, sounding a bit too high-and-mighty for Tony's liking. "But now Thor's here, and I know I can trust him, at least."

Thor beamed at her brightly and she smiled back at him, taking his hand.

Clint mimed gagging behind his hand.

Natasha smiled overly-brightly at him and held out her hand, which he took with a puppy-dog expression of adoration that Tony deemed slightly unfair. And funny.

"Okay, so, we're not really clued in," He said, looking at Jane and raising his eyebrows slightly. "Now that you feel warm and secure, mind telling us what's on your mind?"

Expecting another jibe at his moral character, Tony was surprised when Jane looked off into the distance, looking a mixture between hurt and terrified. "...I was threatened," she said. "By another Asgardian." Tony was rather impressed with her mood swings. Maybe she was off her meds or something.

"What?!" Thor demanded. "Who did this?!"

"I don't know," Jane said. "She didn't say her name. But whoever she is, she's nothing compared to what's next. She's in league with Loki."

Thor looked bewildered, while Natasha cleverly turned her laugh into a cough.

"You're kidding," Tony said in mock horror. "Loki? You mean, take-over-the-world, leading-the-Chitauri Loki?"

Jane nodded solemnly. "She was wearing all green," she said. "And she had magic."

Because every scientist who wore red was in league with Tony. And every archer who wore purple was in league with Clint.

"My dear Jane, you are greatly mistaken," Thor began. "Loki is-"

Tony kicked him under the table and Natasha coughed again, while Clint cast a glance around surreptitiously, probably figuring out how to disable all the cameras at once.

"Loki is in Asgard," Thor quickly corrected himself, barely managing to pull it off. "I left him in a cell." He furrowed his brow, looking troubled, but convicted. Tony blamed his fairly good lying skills on years with Loki.

"But she mentioned him," Jane protested. "By name."

"What did she say?" Thor inquired curiously.

"Well, I don't remember all the exact words," Jane said with a frown. "But she said something about finding him."

Tony hit his forehead with his hand. "So, let me get this straight," he said. "An Asgardian woman with a fetish for the color green threatened you with magic unless you gave away the location of a convicted imprisoned Asgardian war-criminal? So you automatically think they must be in league with each other. Yeah, makes total sense."

"No, that's not what I said," Jane protested. "She didn't ask me to give up the location of Loki, she just mentioned him. She actually seemed a lot more interested in Thor. I think..." She glared at the table and clutched Thor's hand harder. "That she's in love with him."

"It's the hair, isn't it?" Clint suddenly mused, looking at Thor's hair contemplatively. "I'll bet it's the hair."

"Guys," Steve practically begged.

"Agent Barton," Fury interrupted, looking exasperated as he turned once again to Jane. "So, Miss Foster, you called us with a potential global catastrophe involving the war-criminal Loki, and what we have is a fangirl in green?"

"A _witch_ fangirl in green," Tony corrected. "Pansy Parkinson, maybe? Millicent Bulstrode?"

"Would that make Thor Draco?" Clint inquired.

"Only if I get to be Harry Potter," Tony stated.

"No, but that wouldn't work," Clint said. "Considering Nat's gotta be Ginny."

"Oh please," Natasha said. "Maybe Jane can be Ginny instead."

"But then Thor would be Harry," Clint noted. "And I just don't see that working."

"I dunno," Tony said. "He's already got the lightning."

"But black hair, green eyes?" Natasha stated, her undertones clearly mentioning someone else.

"Well," Tony said. "We'll just have to find some magic bro with green eyes and black hair to come be Harry. But then Jane _cannot_ be Ginny."

"Wrong, so wrong," Clint agreed shaking his head. "Which brings us back to Nat. I think it could work. Tony?"

"I choose not to answer that, on the grounds that it might incriminate me," Tony said.

"What on earth are you talking about?" Steve demanded desperately.

"Yes, I would like to know as well," Thor said, looking incredibly confused. "Is Lady Natasha being _courted_?!"

The undertones of his question were clearly heard, and everyone who knew what was going on burst out laughing.

"No, Thor, I am not being courted," Natasha said finally. "But I trust I would have your blessing if I were?"

Thor fumbled for a moment. "A-aye, Good Lady," He said. "Though I am not sure the groom would be particularly pleased."

By now, Clint and Tony were on the floor, while Natasha got a strange look on her face, raising her eyebrows at Thor.

"N-not to say that you are not- that he wouldn't-" Thor sputtered, eyes wide. "I mean to say-"

"Dude, stop digging," Tony gasped out.

Steve put his head on the table.

"If you're all done with your gossip fest," Fury announced. "I'd like you to either explain what you're going on about or KEEP IT TO YOURSELVES."

"Keep it to ourselves," Tony said immediately, feeling strangely like a rebuked child. "Nothing to say."

"Yeah, nothing at all," Clint said, sitting up straight in his chair and giving Fury a nod. "We're all good here."

They exchanged a glance and fell into another hopeless round of hysterics.

"Oh, how cute you all are," A high, trilling voice said suddenly. Everyone whirled around immediately, raising their respective weapons, except for Tony, who wasn't wearing his suit and instinctively folded his arms protectively across his chest. As always, he managed to make it look like he was just ticked off instead.

"Amora," Thor said, Mjolnir in his hands and Jane behind him.

The woman, who was around five six and had long blonde hair and red lipstick that Tony normally associated with trying too hard, laughed. "Hello, my dear Thor," She said. "Oh, and you brought your little pet." She pouted. The expression was cute. "I do hope you are not too upset that we had a little discussion."

As much as Tony didn't like Jane, he had to admit, this woman, although rather laughable, gave off the general impression of being evil, and Tony wouldn't have wanted her targeting him either. Especially as she was a woman scorned at the moment.

"Ma'am," Fury spoke up. "Drop any weapons and put your hands on your head, slowly."

"Ooh, I am afraid I cannot do so," Amora said regretfully. "But you understand. Don't you?"

All of a sudden, instead of looking kind of lame, Amora was glowing. Literally, she was glowing a light color of green (really? Green, again?), her eyes looking almost like swirling vortexes and her already beautiful face turning alarmingly, stunningly, gorgeous.

Honestly, if Tony hadn't been in a very committed and loving relationship, he might've suddenly considered being in one.

But that made him think of Pepper, and then Amora was lame again. Tony was embarrassed. How could he ever have thought anything like that?! But then

he looked around and realized that he, apparently, wasn't the only one.

Even Fury was smiling under his eyepatch.

"What happened?" Natasha asked, looking at Clint in alarm as he stood up straight and smiled at Amora.

"Thor?" Jane asked as Thor tugged his hand away and gazed at Amora in adoration. "What are you doing?"

Steve also stood, bowing his head slightly, a different shade of pink on his face.

"Wow," Tony said. "It must be some sort of spell."

"Tony?" Natasha exclaimed, turning to him. "What's going on?"

"It's probably a, um…" Tony started, getting quiet for the last two words. "...Love spell."

"A love spell!?" Jane repeated. "She can do that?"

"Apparently," Natasha agreed. "Tony, how come it didn't affect you?"

Tony felt his ears turn slightly red. "It, uh, did," he said. "I just… Well, I thought of Pepper and it stopped working…"

Natasha quirked the corner of her mouth. "Really?" She said.

"Yeah, well, you know," Tony said. "...Sentiment. Here, let me test it out."

Turning to Steve, Tony got between Steve and Amora, breaking the line of vision. "Hey Steve, remember Peggy?" He said flippantly. Steve paused and after a moment, shut his eyes, shaking his head. Looking up, he turned as red as the stripes on his shield and sat heavily down in his chair.

"Yep, sentiment," Tony affirmed.

Natasha nodded, and turned to Clint. "Guatemala," she said. "December 15th. 2009."

Clint reacted much the same way that Steve had, except he laughed when he got clear.

"What are you doing?!" Amora demanded, her face scrunching up in anger. "Cease that right this minute, you blithering mortals!"

Fury leaned against his desk, and everyone (Amora included) turned in silence to watch, wondering what he would do. He began muttering something over and over, and Tony had to lean in a little closer to hear what he was saying.

"Valentina …." He was mumbling. "Valentina Allegra… de Fontaine… Valentina…"

Tony stared. He really had to look into Fury's past a little more. Maybe he could do some digging, find out something about this mysterious Valentina. But, not really a priority at the moment.

"Hey, Janey," Tony said, turning to Jane. "Get your boyfriend, will you?"

Jane nodded and stepped in front of Thor. "Thor, look at me," She said. "It's Jane."

Tony was fully expecting Thor to shake his head and snap out of his trance, but instead he just strained to continue looking at Amora over the top of Jane's head.

"Ha, you petty mortal," Amora said haughtily. "You are nothing compared to me, the mistress of magic and enchantress. How could any man resist me?"

"News flash," Tony spoke up. "You just met four."

"Insolent fool," Amora snapped. "As if I even wanted you. None of you are as perfect as Thor. All of you are beneath me in every way."

"Thor," Jane said again, looking hurt. "Why isn't it working?"

"It's not enough," Tony realized. "The bond isn't strong enough."

"What?" Jane demanded shortly.

"I mean, me with Pepper," Tony said. "That's like, powerful stuff, sentimentally speaking. Steve would've married Peggy and apparently Clint has some Guatemalan girl from o' nine, and Fury has a secret love. Apparently, you're not a powerful enough incentive. There's still something else."

"Something else?!" Jane repeated. "Do you mean _someone_ else?!"

"I don't know," Tony said. "You're not… doing much."

Jane scowled. "But I love him," She said. "He loves me!"

"Oh, poor little Jane," Amora tutted in false sympathy. "I am afraid the dear Prince Thor has realized what a silly thing you are, and has turned to his real love. Is that not right, my dearest?" She turned to Thor, and he nodded eagerly.

"What do we do?" Steve asked, seeming to shake off his shock a bit. "If he's not coming to with Jane, then how do we get him out?"

"Hit him?" Clint suggested with a shrug. "Cognitive recalibration?"

"I get the feeling this is something a little different," Natasha told him.

"Still, couldn't hurt," Clint said. "Steve should do it. He's the strongest."

Fury fired his gun at Amora, and the bullets went right through her as she disappeared. Thor looked around in distress until she reappeared behind him and took his hand, grinning evilly at Jane.

"Thor, stop it!" Jane cried. "You don't love her, you love me, remember?"

"As if a god such as him would ever look twice at such an ugly mortal," Amora said with a laugh. "Obviously, he does not truly care for you as you thought."

As annoying as she was, Tony couldn't help but feel sorry for Jane as she blinked back tears and glared at Amora hatefully. She obviously had thought something of the sort before.

"Jane, she's lying," Tony told her, rolling his eyes. "Just because it's not… working quite as well… Doesn't mean he doesn't care about you."

"Mortal, you are very amusing," Amora said with a shark grin. "But unfortunately, I am afraid my heart belongs to only Thor."

"Good, we were worried," Clint cut in. He had leveled an arrow at Amora, but seemed hesitant to shoot. Maybe because she might disappear again.

"Insufferable man," Amora said angrily. "You are nothing! Not even worth my time! None of you are!"

"Steve," Tony said. "Now would be good. Want to try and get Thor back?"

Steve nodded and, stepping forward, punched Thor on the jaw. The god stumbled back a bit, but then just looked back at Amora as if he were awaiting instructions.

"They scorn me," Amora said to him, her voice dripping with fake hurt. "You must show them not to laugh at beautiful maidens such as myself, my love."

"Oh great," Tony said, backing up a bit. "Mayday. She's playing the 'wounded girlfriend' card."

"_I'm_ his girlfriend!" Jane protested.

"You dare speak words against my dearest Amora?" Thor spoke up for the first time since the spell was cast. "She who has beauty to rival Freya herself?"

"That is right, my pet," Amora crooned. "They doubt my appeal and refuse my grace. I have only you to appreciate me."

Thor's face twisted in a mixture between anger, sympathy, and undying love for Amora. He turned to the others and raised Mjolnir. "Do any of you mortals dare continue your false words, or shall I smite you now before more such atrocities pass?"

"No, we're good," Tony said calmly, getting an idea. "At least, I am. If you'll excuse me, I've gotta go cancel an important business meeting. I'm like, half an hour late. Goodbye."

Turning, he left before anyone could stop him, and closing the door, pulled out his StarkPhone.

"JARVIS," he muttered. "Cut all surveillance in this corridor and lock everyone out until I'm done."

_"Yes sir,"_ JARVIS said. _"Shall I ring up the tower?"_

"You know it," Tony said, putting the phone to his ear and waiting while it rang.

"Hey, Tony," Bruce said from the other line. "How did things go with Fury?"

"Uh, they started bad," Tony told him. "And then it got a little better, and then it took a really weird turn. Can you put Lokes on the phone?"

"Loki?" Bruce said, sounding confused. "Why? What happened?"

"Er, Thor's fangirl came by," Tony relayed. "And that didn't make Mary Sue very happy. Things got messy fast and now Thor may bust out the hammer because Green Girl is using her Veela powers. Oh, and did you know Fury has an old flame named Valentina?"

"...Valentina?" Bruce repeated. "That's fun, I guess."

"Yeah, so put Loki on the phone," Tony said.

Bruce obviously wasn't following what was going on (really? He couldn't keep up with the conversation?), but after a moment of muted conversation between him and what was clearly Loki, the phone changed hands.

"What is it, Stark?" Loki said, sounding more at ease than the last time they'd talked. "I was in the middle of something."

"Well, this is slightly more important," Tony told him. "First off, your brother's girlfriend came by."

"Oh, Jane Dearest," Loki said with a slight hiss. "And what did you think of her?"

"Well she insulted me right off the bat," Tony answered. "And before that, she and Thor had a make-out session that lasted forever, but-"

"Stark, please, that is disgusting," Loki interrupted with a gag. "I am attempting to eat!"

"Sorry about that," Tony chuckled, noting with pleasure that he was indeed eating. "But uh, there's more. You remember how we said something about magical signatures?"

"Of course I remember," Loki huffed.

"That was the crazy lady who you guys told us about," Tony told him.

"Ah, yes," Loki didn't sound too worried. "I believe that is my fault. When she interrogated me, I was forced to give her information about Midgard that she might've found most interesting. I hope she did not cause you or the others much inconvenience."

"Uh, yeah, that's actually what I was calling about," Tony said, leaning against the wall and wincing when he heard a _bang_ from the other room. "She went to catfight with Janey Dear, which is probably where the magical signatures came from, and then she came here, to the Helicarrier."

"Did you apprehend her?" Loki asked.

"No, now stop interrupting," Tony frowned. "Before we could do anything, she did this weird thing that, uh, made everyone… fall in love with her."

"A love spell?" Loki said, sounding surprised. "Well, I suppose, she did call herself the Enchantress, so she would be a proficient at such things. Did you call to ask how to break it?"

"Dude, I figured _that _out like, ten minutes ago," Tony rolled his eyes. "Actually, that's part of our problem. I broke it fairly quickly and Fury got out all by his lonesome. Tasha got Clint to snap out of it and I mentioned a lost love to Cap, but Thor is having some… issues. The thought of Jane isn't doing anything. And I'm pretty sure Poison Ivy is making him fight the others on her behalf right now." There was another bang, followed by a loud yell. "Yeah… Right now."

"I thought I told that pathetic witch to keep her grimy claws away from my brother," Loki hissed before seeming to come to himself. He cleared his throat awkwardly and Tony grinned.

"Feeling a bit protective?" He asked, wincing to himself when he realized he'd just asked a question.

"Yes," Loki answered with a low growl. "Shut up, Stark."

Tony laughed a bit. The wall behind him shook and he frowned. "So anyway," He said. "Getting back on topic. Jane isn't working and I figured, you would know Thor better than just about anyone. Is there anyone that he… always sort of liked?"

"Oh yes," Loki answered. "Try Sif. If that doesn't work, I will be heartily surprised."

"Sif," Tony nodded, reviewing his memories. "I read about her in the file. She's the one with dark hair and the swords, who fought the Destroyer in New Mexico, right?"

"Yes, and always mention the swords," Loki said. "Thor has always been fond of how good she was with them."

"Alright, well, I'll go save your brother from a crazy mage now," Tony said with a sigh. "I swear, Loki, he's more trouble than you are."

"I am not sure that is a compliment, Stark," Loki said. "Would you like my magical expertise on these matters or shall I continue my chess match?"

"Er, maybe later, but I'm pretty sure I got this for now," Tony said consideringly. "Plus, that would mean that SHIELD would know you're here. And Jane. Which, we might have to tell her eventually, but… later is better, in this case. She's already convinced you're evil, and in league with the cheerleader."

"The _what_ leader?" Loki sighed in bemusement.

"Cheerleader," Tony repeated. "They're these girls who dance and wave these stringy, puffy things at sporting events to pump up the crowds. Mostly, they've got a bad name because a lot of cheerleaders are mean girls, quite often blonde. Like in Bring it On. Or Hatching Pete."

"Stark, I'm lost," Loki admitted.

"Amora," Tony sighed. "She thinks you're in league with Amora."

"That is decidedly foolish," Loki scoffed. "As if I would deign to support a blithering damsel, whose only goal is to win the heart of my incompetent brother. Tell me, how would that further my own goals?"

"Hey, I didn't say _I_ thought that," Tony told him. "In fact, when she said that, we all laughed. Like, even Tasha. Which, by the way, Thor might be having a long conversation with you about the possibilities of a courtship."

"A courtship betwixt myself and your Spider?" Loki said with a light laugh. "Miss 'Love-Is-For-Children' herself?"

"See, that's what I said," Tony said contemplatively. "But we need someone to be Harry, and you were picked. And Tasha is much better for you than Jane."

"I think I will just go without," Loki decided. "While your Romanoff is quite pretty, I doubt we would have a very happy home life. And even if I didn't happen to consider Miss Foster a silly little thing, Thor would be most displeased. But did you not have something to do, Stark?"

Tony smacked his forehead with his hand again. "Right, Thor," He groaned. "You got me all sidetracked!"

"It was hardly my fault," Loki huffed. "You're the one who brought up your cheerleaders and my impending courtship with the lovely Natasha. Now be on your way, you stupid thing."

The way he said it was more endearing than offensive (which was a bit weird in and of itself), so Tony let it slide and hung up the phone before they could start talking again. Turning, he strode back into the room and stopped, spotting the large amount of damage.

For one thing, the window near the back of the room had shattered, allowing wind into the room that was whipping everyones hair around. For another, arrows stuck out of several surfaces. Steve had a cut on his arm and was dodging the blasts of raw magic that Amora was throwing at him, her pretty face screwed up in her frustration.

And for yet another thing, Fury and Clint were trying to hold Thor back from causing any more destruction, and were actually getting pulled across the floor as Thor attempted to get to Amora. While Jane was screaming and trying to throw things at Amora (Pepper had much better aim, and Jane missed every time), and meanwhile, Natasha was on Thor's back, yelling over the sound of the wind and obviously trying to talk some sense into him.

"SIF!" Tony shouted as loud as he could. "THOR, LISTEN, THINK ABOUT SIF!"

The room got quiet as Thor whirled around to face Tony so fast he knocked Natasha off of his back.

"Remember Sif?" Tony prodded. "Long, dark hair? Likes her swords?"

"Sif…" Thor mumbled, as if trying to remember.

"NO!" Amora screeched, sounding like a banshee. "STOP IT! HE'S MINE!"

"Sif?" Jane demanded, looking even more hurt and put-out than before. "You mean that girl who came before? But… But…"

Amora screamed and rushed toward Jane as if she was going to rip her apart, but Thor got in between them and leveled his hammer at her, glaring.

"Leave while you still keep your life, Enchantress," He said. "Your sorceresses ways will not accomplish anything here, and if you attempt to continue on your path of deceit, I swear, I will not hesitate to kill you."

"Yeah, hear hear," Clint said, gasping slightly and straightening up. "I don't like it when people mess with my head. And I really didn't need to be reminded about Guatemala."

Natasha gave him a slightly apologetic look, and Tony's curiosity increased ten-fold. He wondered if something had happened between the two agents, or if Clint really did have a secret love from back in the day, like Fury.  
Speaking of which…

"Actually," Fury said, glaring at Amora. "I believe you're under arrest. Unless our resident ambassador to Asgard protests, you're going away for a fairly long time."

"Idiotic, assuming mortals!" Amora shouted, practically spitting in her anger. Tony decided that it was a lot less degrading when Loki called them idiots and mortals. "I will have Thor one day! This battle is not over, he will be all mine and no one will stand in my way! Not you pathetic little 'Avengers', not your Strategic Homeland Intervention: Enforcement and Logistics Division, not Loki, and certainly not a talentless, _ugly_ little mortal like _JANE FOSTER!_"

"Dude, you're really just making yourself look worse, at this point," Tony said, shaking his head and trying to cover up her Loki reference. "Everyone's just gonna feel sorry for you."

"I know I do," Clint piped in.

"And that's SHIELD," Fury corrected with a glare.

With a last, furious scream, Amora vanished into thin air.

In the ensuing silence, Clint turned to Tony. "So, you figured out how to break the spell by thinking of Pepper, right?"

Tony smirked nonchalantly, making sure not to show how uncomfortable he was discussing this. "Yeah, that's a side-effect of the genius," he boasted. "Her little magic-trick barely held me for three seconds."

Clint laughed once and turned to the still-speechless Jane. "And you thought he wasn't committed," he stated.

_While Thor was affected the longest, and not brought out of it by Jane._

The obvious end to the sentence hung in the air, and, unlike the many references to Harry Potter, Jane seemed to understand perfectly. The expression of heartbreak was so obvious on her face that understanding washed over Tony like a waterfall, and he suddenly hated every mean thing that had been said of her that day.

Everyone had a past, everyone had their own problems. Who knows what all Jane had been through before that made her the way she was now? Perhaps she had been ditched at her homecoming. Perhaps she'd always been made to believe she wasn't pretty, and so she _had _to be smart. Perhaps she'd been cheated on by someone she loved. At any rate, Tony was heartily ashamed of himself. Someone like him should know better than to judge. Heaven knows he had a bucket load of imperfections. In fact, _everyone_ knows he had a bucket load of imperfections. How dare he ridicule someone else for the same?

He didn't have to like her. In fact, he still didn't like her. He thought she was annoying, childish and fell too hard too fast. But he didn't have to taunt her for it.

"Meh, don't worry, Janey," Tony said flippantly. "Amora was obviously trying harder with Thor. That chick's got some serious issues to work through. Besides, who said sentimentality had to be love? He's known Sif for what, centuries? They're like, besties, they grew up together. Although, did anyone else catch that he didn't even come out of it until we mentioned swords?" He gave Jane a mock warning look and hissed sympathetically through his teeth. "Careful, darling," he said. "Sounds to me like he just might be one of those guys who takes his hobbies way more seriously than his relationships."

Jane looked a bit surprised, and grateful. It was obvious the hurt was still there, but some of the sting was out of it now, and Tony gave a small smile. "Now, Fury," he said, turning everyone's attention to the director and off poor Jane. "What was the name of that little sweetheart you mentioned? Valentina, I think you said? Sounds Italian. Do you have a little Italian lady you're not telling us about?"

Fury glared and stalked menacingly from the room. Tony ranked his exit about 5.8 on the impressive-meter. It would have been better if the other Avengers hadn't been trying hard to turn their snickers into coughs.

"You're holding out on us, director," Tony called after him, getting louder so Fury could hear as he got further away. "You need to learn to share. You'll feel better if you talk it out!"

Turning back to the team, Tony smiled. "Well," he said. "Anyone up for pizza? I'm thinking Italian..."

* * *

_So, okay, first things first. Do you guys know what I just had to deal with?! It's eleven forty on a Sunday night, I have to work tomorrow, I still have to shower, and ALL OF MY SPACES STARTED COMPLETELY FREAKING OUT! Because of the different fonts, and the spaces and such... I had to go through - TWICE - and __respace__ EVERYTHING! Which, by the way, was not fun. At all. But, now let's move on. I'm done griping._

_Also, more slight mentioning's of BlackFrost romance, but it is, once again, purely platonic. Did you enjoy the Pepperony? Did you like my Peggy/Steve stuff? Also, I purposefully left Clint's romance unexplained. So that it might be Clintasha (I always ship Clintasha), but it might just be some random girl that Clint knew. That may have died. Or just ditched him. Or didn't like bows and arrows. Or, my sister says that, because it was mostly sentiment and not even wholly about love, it could've been a colleague dying, or orphans or something. So, yeah. Interpret what you will, but Clint keeps his secrets._

_And Fury's 'old flame' Valentina Allegra de Fontaine? She happens to be a Marvel character who had a romance with Fury and was then revealed to be a traitor. And also a Skrull, but that's besides the point. So... yeah. Thought I'd mention that._

_Also. I totally heard you guys. A lot of you were like 'don't put Jane in', but I think I worked something out that'll (hopefully) please most of you. Yes, she's annoying, but we're not judging the character. And Tony isn't judging the character. Because he's super cool like that. And also, this isn't exactly Thif... Even though I like shipping Thif, but... not really._

_Okay, also. While we were writing this, me and Plushie wrote a lot of little notes, back and forth to each other. These were quite fun and sort of explained (in part) our thought process. These little notes, from __this__ chapter that you just read, are eventually going to be turned into a little extra thing later. A 'Liesmith: Behind the Scenes' for all of you. Or something of a similar title. Probably with an exclamation point. __Liesmith: Behind the scenes!__. Yeah. Like that._

_(Adds some excitement. I like it.)_

_(Yes, thank you, sister dearest)_

_(Whoa, did you seriously just Loki/Thor me? Uh, no, I'm Tony. Get with the program, Girly.)_

_(Apologies, Stark. I'll try and remember that in the future.)_

_Anyway. Bye guys._

_Jo~ (And, once again, Plushie. I'm still not stealing the spotlight or anything. No, seriously. It's all Jo.)_

_Oh. My. Gosh. It's twelve. Right now. No... Dude, this clock is not switching. This was more way more then sixty seconds. Yes, now. NOW, it's twelve. I'm leaving. Right now._


	9. Luke Skywalker (He's Here to Rescue You)

_Okay, so, this is definitely the quickest update I've ever posted. Really guys, this was a fluke. Don't get too used to it, and my next chapter might take even longer to compensate for the fast response this chapter is. Anyways... Yeah. Thank you all for your many reviews and follows and favorites and such. We broke two hundred followers this last week, got over one hundred reviews (Let's make our goal two hundred, kay kay? Counting on you guys for that one), and also broke one hundred favorites. I feel all super awesome so... Whoopee! This is really cool!_

_Okay, also, real fast. I did have someone ask if Loki got tortured by the Chitauri. The answer?... Yes. Yes he did. Very. At least, in my version of the story, and then he was possessed, in that version. It may not be particularly canon (I choose to believe it is, but you know), but this is how it is in my story. That will be touched upon later, and there's gonna be a whole huge hoopla that goes down. So yeah. Thought I'd touch on that._

_BY THE WAY! In case you were worried over last chapters little make-out moment, no this story will not be overly Thane. Though of course, there will be Thane-ish moments, because she'll be in the tower, and she and Thor __are__ boyfriend/girlfriend... But uh, no. Not really. Remember? Only Pepperony? (By the way, a little thing for you guys about that later, thanks to Plushie Dearest.)_

_Formal disclaimer: I don't own Marvel, or (once again) Harry Potter, or Star Wars, or Trivial Pursuit. And parts of this story (again, most of the Tony parts) were written by my illustrious sister, the one and only PlushChrome. If you like my stories, you should check out her's. Especially Lifesource, which is a Christmas present to me. And review as well. Because that... that matters._

_Also. I went and gave names to all of my chapters. And they're pretty fun. You should check 'em out._

_Jo~_

* * *

They had just finished their third chess match when Banner's phone beeped once, alerting him to a text message. Picking it up, Banner read the message and sighed. "I'm afraid that's all the time we have for chess," he said. "That was Tony. Apparently, Fury is... very suspicious about all this, and he's coming over with everybody."

Loki raised an eyebrow. "Does the director have nothing better to do with his time than pay visits to the tower to investigate Stark?"

"Yeah, well, he's kind of right," Banner said. "Besides, it wouldn't be the first time. He has to get personally involved or Tony doesn't let SHIELD do anything."

Judging from his face, there was some kind of story behind the statement. But Loki didn't ask, and Banner simply stood and began placing the chess pieces back in the box. "You play very well," Banner noted with a small smile. Of course, the scientist had lost all three matches. Loki had won very easily. But his opponent had turned out to be fun to verse, and Loki ended up rather enjoying himself.

"You add a whole new perspective to the game," Banner continued. "I've never seen strategy quite like that before. It was really fascinating to watch. You'll have to teach me your methods sometime."

Loki blushed involuntarily. He wasn't sure how he felt about these compliments, or even how to respond to them. He chose, since he was not obligated to answer, to simply remain silent.

Luckily, Banner did not seem to expect an answer. Placing the box back on the mantel, he turned and checked his phone, which had just beeped again. He did a double-take, then smiled nervously up at Loki. "Tony has a plan," he started.

"...Go on?" Loki prompted.

"He... He wants you to turn into a cat," he said. "He says you need to be hidden, and we need a cat, so we'll kill two birds with one... with one cat. That's what he says."

Loki snickered. "It is the obvious solution," he admitted. "I suppose, if it is the best course of action, I shall oblige. But we must not forget to break your glasses. I, being the cat, broke them earlier when I made you trip, remember?"

"Right," Banner said, taking his glasses out of his shirt pocket and sighing in annoyance. "I hope Tony comes through about buying me new ones."

Loki impatiently took the glasses out of Banner's hands and, concentrating, duplicated them. He handed one pair to Banner and then snapped the second pair and broke the glass in one lens before handing them to the scientist also.

Banner looked slightly taken aback. "...Thanks," he said, hiding the first pair in a nearby drawer and placing the broken pair on the table, where they could be easily seen. "Okay," he said. "Now that's done. All we need now is the cat."

Loki rolled his eyes and transformed into his basic cat form. He looked up at Banner and silently dared him to comment. Banner twitched his mouth, but refrained from laughter. "You still look like yourself, in a way," he noted. "I mean, only the people who already know would ever see it, but still. You're just a... a cat person, I guess."

Loki blinked lazily, the tip of his tail twitching slightly. In a way, he was slightly proud that someone was here to know the difference. His ability to transform was one of his favorite tricks, and he had always felt his cat form was particularly exceptional. In the past, his transformations were reserved for his own disguises, rarely anyone ever knew it was him. Today, he would finally have his audience.

* * *

Tony looked down at his phone. Bruce had just sounded the all-clear, and Tony had to try hard not to smile. He loved pulling the wool over Fury's eyes, every opportunity he could. And now he could do it while waving the deception in the directors face.

Speaking of the Director, Fury entered the hangar, followed by Hill and another agent. He was giving instructions to Hill, who nodded briskly and walked away before reaching the group.

"Alright," Fury said. "Let's go."

Everyone boarded the quinjet, except for the agent, who Tony stopped by holding up his hand. "I don't know what you're playing, Fury," he said. "But I don't let just anybody into my tower. We have a list, of all pre-approved guests, and I don't think this guy is on it."

"This is Agent Belleview," Fury stated. "He's training."

"Training for what?" Clint asked.

"Classified," Agent Belleview said, in an English accent. That was cool. Tony dug English accents.

"Ah, he's picking it up already," Tony noted, in response to Belleview's classified training assignment. "Good job, Belleview. What kind of a name is that, anyway? I don't think I've heard it before."

"Agent Belleview," Fury continued. "Is a scientist."

"Ooh, what kind?" Tony asked.

"Classified," Agent Belleview said again. Everyone looked at him. "...That was a joke," The agent said worriedly. "I was... I was just joking. I'm... just a scientist. I study whatever I can get my hands on. I'm here today because of the Thermonuclear astrophysics, but... it varies from day to day."

"You're clear," Tony said, allowing him passage into the quinjet. Agent Belleview hesitated, obviously not sure whether he was allowed in or not.

"Agent Belleview," Fury barked. "Get in the quinjet!"

"Ah, yes sir," Belleview said, rushing inside past Tony.

"I think he needs a bit more training," Tony noted.

"Yes, I'm thinking so now too," Fury said, glaring at Agent Belleview.

"Sorry," the Agent said. "I'm just… really excited to be meeting all of you. Hey," he turned to Tony. "If I brought over my Iron Man t-shirt, would you sign it?"

"Gladly," Tony said, deciding he liked Belleview. "And I'll even throw in a free Stark Industries coffee mug for you to use when you're busy being a scientist. I've got like, twenty lying around."

"Seriously, Belleview," Clint cut in. "That wasn't an exaggeration, he really does have around twenty of those stupid cups in the cupboard. He used to have forty, but Steve kept breaking them, and I may or may not have accidentally brought some in to use for target practice myself."

Belleview chuckled. "Do you think…" he said. "I mean, I've heard it's not wise to bring it up but… Do you think Doctor Banner would sign my Hulk baseball cap?"

"I think it would be an honor," Tony said. "And if not, well, I'll hand it over personally."

"Cool," Belleview said, smiling. He bit his lip, however, when he saw the look on Fury's face.

The rest of the ride was a silent one.

When they go to the tower, Pepper opened the door, which was really bad luck, because she obviously wasn't in on the whole 'Loki-is-our-new-cat' thing.

"Director," She greeted with a strained smile. "What brings you here?"

"Just doing a routine checkup, Miss Potts," Fury told her. "Considering the recent spike in magical signatures near this point, I thought I would make sure that everything was safe personally."

"Hello, Miss Potts," Belleview greeted with a small smile. "I'm Agent Belleview."

"He's training," Tony informed her. "Don't ask what for… It's classified. Where's Bruce and Steve's new cat?"

"Bruce is upstairs," Pepper said easily, although Tony, knowing her well, caught her underlayer of confusion and slight anxiousness. "In the lounge, and I actually think the cat is with him." She gazed at him meaningfully.

"Yeah, well, that's good," Tony said to calm her down. "Saves us the trouble of looking everywhere for him."

"You guys have a cat?" Jane cut in questioningly.

"He's new," Tony told her. "Yeah, Steve brought him in yesterday night. I was thinking we would have to get him a good home, but Tasha is really fond of him so, I'm not sure if that's gonna work out."

Natasha hid a smirk.

"Should I go and get Bruce?" Pepper asked helpfully.

"Yeah, thanks Pep," Tony said. "Get the cat too."

She gave him a look that said "I hope you know what you're doing," and turned to go upstairs.

"Better yet, let's follow," Tony decided. "Come along, everybody. Let's go see this cat, since Fury's so suspicious of it. I wonder if it's really some sort of shape-shifting alien, here to take over the earth. I bet that's what the director's so worried about. Isn't it, Nick?"

"It very well may be," Fury said seriously.

"Well…" Tony said, starting to follow Pepper uncaringly, the others following his lead. "If it is, then we've all been doped pretty badly. That would be embarrassing. Especially considering how worried we all were over it's health."

"It was in bad shape?" Jane inquired sympathetically.

"I don't let just any cat into my tower, Janey," Tony said with an eyebrow raise. "Steve only brought him in because it was raining, but then we noticed how thin it looked, and we figured he hadn't eaten for a while…"

Thor winced.

"And then, I think it's ribs were broken recently," Tony continued. "But they seemed to be healing pretty well, so at least that's going for us…"

"How terrible!" Jane exclaimed

.

"That poor cat," Belleview inputted with a frown. "Do you think somebody hit him or something?"

"It wouldn't surprise me," Tony said. "But honestly, I'm pretty sure his rescuer hit the original abuser as well."

Everyone looked at Steve, who red-facedly shrugged. "I don't… I don't hit people," he said. "But I may have thought about it…" Glancing surreptitiously at Thor, those who knew to look saw him nod with a slight smile.

Tony knocked on the door of the lounge before entering, just in case, and Pepper opened the door with a grin and a black, thin cat on her shoulder, blinking at them with big, green colored eyes.

The cat, who Tony knew to be Loki, was none the less… really cute, and he couldn't help the smile that came to his face as Jane said "Awww," Immediately.

Loki narrowed his eyes and hissed slightly, curling closer to Pepper. Tony had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing, and Clint behind him barely stopped his own in time, something which Fury seemed to notice. "This is your new cat?" He questioned.

"Yes," Natasha said. "And as Tony said, I am fond of him, so I hope you're not planning on taking him for alien experimentation."

Loki jumped from Pepper's shoulder to Fury's, who stiffened before Loki gave him a look and pounced to Natasha. He rubbed his head against her chin for emphasis and she smiled.

"S-see," Tony said breathlessly. "See Fury, he likes her too."

"I see," Fury said. "What's his name?"

Most of the Avengers shifted almost imperceptably, except for Tony. "Luke Skywalker," he said without skipping a beat, looking at Fury as if daring him to figure it out. Behind the director, Thor paled.

"...Luke Skywalker?" Fury asked.

"Yep," Tony said. "I was gonna go with Darth Vader, but he breathes too normally, and then I thought well, Anakin, for obvious reasons. But Luke is obviously a better choice. I mean, who wants to name their cat after a Sith Lord? That's just inviting bad luck."

Fury pursed his lips. "And you didn't name it Harry Potter?" He said dryly.

"Mm, thought about it," Tony said, choosing to ignore the Avengers, who all had started giggling uncontrollably. Loki purred and Thor laughed outright, causing Loki's tail to twitch as he straightened in obvious satisfaction.

Jane and Belleview looked around in obvious confusion, and Fury nodded. "I've seen enough," he said. "And I don't want to see anymore. Don't write this down, no paperwork. Keep him hidden and don't let me hear a word of it. Plausible deniability. And yes, I just quoted a children's show."

"Wait a minute," Belleview said. "The cat… has to be kept hidden? Why!?"

"Agent, when it comes to the Avengers, just don't ask," Fury advised. "Keep an eye on things here."

"Oh, okay," Belleview said, nodding with a confused frown before the second half of the director's directions seemed to register. His eyes wide, he looked up at Fury. "What!?" he said. "I- keep an- you want me to stay- h-here? With the Avengers!?"

"Don't touch Stark's stuff and you'll be fine," Fury said, turning to leave before pausing. "And you might not want to instigate anything with Harry Potter, either."

Belleview glanced at Loki in worry. "Sir," he said. "Obviously, there's something more to this cat thing than I understand. Are you sure you want me here?"

"Agent Belleview," Fury barked. "You have your orders. I expect you to follow them without question! Do you understand?"

"Y-yes sir," Belleview stuttered.

"Wrong answer," Fury said. "Never obey any order without question. You have no idea what I just signed you up for! How on earth will you know how to handle yourself!? Stay here. Keep an eye on things. And don't. Mess with. The cat. Do you understand?"

"...No?" Belleview guessed.

Fury glared in silence. "You'll do fine," he decided. "Keep me posted." Turning, he left.

"Okay, seriously guys," Belleview said, turning around. "What's with the cat?"

Loki gave the cat equivalent of a snicker and jumped to the floor, giving Belleview a passing glance before going back into the lounge. The door shut in a very finale manner, apparently of it's own accord, and Belleview stared.

"Wait," Tony called to Loki. "Is Bruce in there?"

The door opened and Loki slipped out again, rolling eyes and nodding over exaggeratedly.

"Oh. My. Gosh." Jane said as they all stepped into the lounge. "Did the cat just roll his eyes?"

"Is it radioactive?" Belleview demanded, looking at Loki eagerly, as if he wanted to start learning everything he could about… Catman.

Bruce, who was sitting on the armchair in front of the table, looked down at Loki before giving the rest of them a small smile. "If you guys wouldn't mind," He said. "We're trying to play trivial pursuit in here."

Loki nodded solemnly and jumped back up onto the table.

"Can I play too?" Tony asked, hurrying over and taking one of the remaining seats.

"And, and me?" Belleview asked, grinning at Bruce. "I mean, like, I'd probably lose, but… Wow. Playing trivial pursuit with Bruce Banner and Tony Stark, and some kind of super powered cat. Thursdays, right?"

"I like this guy," Clint said. "Who votes Belleview has the honor of buying the pizza tonight?"

"First off, don't think I don't see what you're doing," Belleview said. "But really, yeah, it'd be my honor."

Belleview pulled out a cell-phone and left the lounge to place the call, and the Avengers all shared a glance.

"Nice kid," Bruce noted. "Who is he?"

"Fury's newest stooge," Tony said. "He's in training."

"Training for what?" Bruce wondered.

"Classified," Everyone else said at once.

"Did you notice he's like a completely different person whenever Fury isn't around?" Natasha noted.

"Yeah," Clint said with a small smile. "Newbies. He needs a break."

"Good thing he's assigned to us, then, isn't it?" Tony said sarcastically. "We're the ultimate vacation getaway. Stress free environment, and all."

"Is anyone going to explain the cat?" Jane asked finally.

After a second, everyone laughed.

"It's nothing," Tony said once he'd managed to stop. "Really. If the Avengers had a pet, you think we'd get a normal one?"

Jane considered this. "I suppose you're right," she said.

"Hey guys," Belleview said, sticking his head in the door. "What do you like on your pizzas?"

Tony quirked the corner of his mouth. "Pepperony," he said. No one laughed. No one got it.

"Pepperoni works for me, too," Steve said.

"I want pineapples on mine," Clint said.

"You mean, like, Hawaiian?" Belleview asked.

"No, pepperoni, just add pineapple," Clint explained.

"Oh," Belleview blinked. "Okay then…"

"I would like vegetarian, if that's alright," Jane said.

"And I'll just eat whatever's here," Bruce said.

"I shall try all of it!" Thor exclaimed. "What is pizza?"

This time, even Jane laughed along with the others, and Loki, in his cat form, stretched comfortably, yawning. Tony noticed, but pretended not to, and felt… strangely pleased that the god who had thrown him out the window two weeks ago was now eating regularly and secure enough to be tired here in his lounge.

Yeah, Thursdays were super weird.

* * *

_So, Thursdays are super weird. Not saying it's Thursday or anything, I just... I know they can be weird. It's actually Monday (I had to check. I really didn't know. That's how fun my life is)._

_Okay. How did you guys like Belleview? He's all part of me and my sister's master plan for this story that will involve Gamma Radiation, more Asgardians, surprising twists and revelations, and Loki being awesome. Of course. So look forward to all of that, watch those updates, and make sure to review. It's makes my day to read all your encouraging comments, so keep 'em coming._

_And I will remain, as always, your obedient servant:_

_OG (who the heck is he?)_

_Sorry, Phantom reference. It's really me. Jo. Just thought I'd put that in there because it's nice and funny. But it's really me. Not Erik, no one's getting hung today._

_Jo~ (And, although I didn't even show up until right now, PlushChrome. Also, still, somehow, the seats get sold. Gossip's worth it's weight in gold. Yeah, just some more Phantom stuff. I'M NOT AN ATTENTION HOG.)_

_What a way to run an opera!_


End file.
